kat’s random thoughts

Time is flying, I can’t believe I’ve been away for a week.  The writing frenzy yielded three new chapters to Julianne’s Wheels of Fire, a short story in the horror genre for a contest and the script for the upcoming Pottery Festival’s Queen’s pageant.  I even managed to squeeze in some gardening time and grandkids.  I am still flumoxed about how I managed to fit a day job into my life.   But all of that has nothing to do with what drove me to the blog today. 

I heard on the news recently about a school system that is permitting parents to log onto their teenager’s school and follow their every move.  Attendance, assignments, test grades all in real time.  At first glance, this seems like excellent, involved parenting doesn’t it?  But I must disagree.  To me, this is the equivalent of taking up the desk next to your kid for all 12 years of their early schooling, stealing from them the skills and habits necessary to be responsible adults.  Growth as a human being comes from messing up, taking responsibility, organizing ones own schedule. 

 The best parent I’ve met to date once told me that great parents do not do for their children anything they can do for themselves beginning in infancy.  What do you think?

Of all the things we relocated or gave away in order to scale down our lives, Pap and I miss the dogs and cats the most.  Well, we miss the kids too, but they haven’t tossed a ball or snuggled in for a hug with us in many years.  This little guy needed a new home so when the call came in, how could we say no?  His name is Wimper (I just adopt ‘em, I don’t name ‘em) and he looks so much like our last Shih-Tzu, after just one day I feel like I’ve known him forever.  He’s one, the same age as my youngest two grandgirls, likes vanilla ice cream and believes his new chew bear belongs on my bed.  Ought to be an interesting ride with this guy.

American Sign Language is the third most used language in the world according to my research.  Research necessitated by my need to keep up with this little bundle of a grandgirl.  Her parents are both teachers and they weren’t satisfied with taking care of her needs the old fashioned way.  You remember: the baby is crying so you change her diaper. Still crying, rock and jiggle.  Still crying, try a bottle.  Still crying, fetch the favorite blanket, doll, or pacifier.  This inability to communicate was as frustrating for the kids as it was for us parents.  Pap and I saw some legendary melt downs by our kids when they wanted the blue teddy bear not the purple frog and we just could not understand them.

Some of today’s parents, like my daughter, are getting past this communication block by teaching their babies ASL.  When I first heard about this, I thought she was nuts.  But now that I’ve seen it in action, all I can say is:  how totally cool.  Better, how pleasant to spend time with your kid without all the fussing, sobbing and tantrums (not to mention whatever the kids chosen melt down action is).

I can’t help thinking that this second language will serve these children well throughout their lives.  I can think of dozens of situations in which one of my kids needed something and speaking out loud just wasn’t an option.

Blogging wasn’t the only thing I neglected while I was moving. Since Pap managed to come down with the flu right after we settled the boxes into the house and I ended up with a cold a few days after that, I haven’t seen much of the grandgirls until this weekend. I should know better than to leave their mothers unsupervised for more than a day or two. The minute my back was turned, they replaced my grandchildren with some kind of alien version. I suspect high technology is involved because this one’s voice track keeps getting stuck: “up-up-up! mine-mine-mine! no-no-no!”. She used to be so sweet and cuddly.  In her human form, she sleeps.  This new version?  Let’s just put it this way…at 10:00 p.m. it was kind of cute that she was still running around yelling “Nana, me ook!”  By midnight it was getting annoying.  At 1:00 I started worrying about how I was going to function on Sunday with no sleep.   She finally fell asleep at 3:30 and my internal alarm demanded I get up at 5:30…I admit, it was a struggle not shake this little false child awake so she would at least be as tired as I was.  But that would have been silly.  Much more effective to demand that her mother reset her kid’s sleep program when she comes to my house.  Insert that memory card that shuts kid down by 10:30 tops…. I know its Monday, but I’m still tired.

What has happened to the dashboard here at wordpress?  I logged on here this morning and everything is changed!  There was nothing wrong with the old dashboard!  I can’t find anything…I hate change sprung on me.

If you’ve been reading here awhile, you’ll know that I usually dork out at the most inconvenient times.  Leaving my day job was no exception.  I had new auditors this year, and since it was my exit audit, it was important to me to present a professional image (which is always a stretch I’m afraid).  You might also remember that my convertable, Cricket, has a leaky lid.  I usually keep her covered when its raining, but on audit day between packing to move and the rest of the mess I was juggling in March, I forgot to cover her up and it poured in the early hours of that morning.  By the time I left for work there were two inches of water on her floorboard. 

Staying home was not an option so I grabbed what I could find to keep my favorite pink and black suit from getting wet and raced to the office, hoping I’d beat the auditor and be sitting at my desk all calm and cool by the time they arrived. 

I pulled into the parking lot, and a strange car pulled in right beside me.  Auditors.  I tried just sitting there hoping they’d go into the building.  Oh no.  The passenger taps on my window to ask if they’ve arrived at the municipal building (since the building says Municipal Building that gave me hope they weren’t all that observant.  But I digress…).  To make a long story short:  I couldn’t find my raincoat or rubber boots so I was wearing my snow boots to keep my feet dry and a rain poncho somebody had thrown in the closet with Mickey Mouse on the back when I met my new auditors.  Jeesh. 

Holy cow! If I ever mention I’m moving again, spam me with reminders that no human being should load their entire life’s treasures into a truck and relocate them unless they must on threat of death.

Here’s my new home office. It requires only one picture because it is tiny, this picture shows everything except the few inches of desk on the back wall (the computer monitor). An adjustment, for sure, but it is kinda nice having everything, literally, at hand. Overall, I like our little treasure box of a house. I will eventually figure out what to do with the second house full of stuff that currently lives in storage. Just why did I need four sets of china anyway?

Here’s all the stuff I’ve been up to while I was away: Painted the apartment white and the house in living color, finished up getting audited, refinished and sealed the floor in the new house, completely revised the first three chapters of my new book (she hated being ten), packed and unpacked, hauled a truckload of boxes to storage, celebrated  Ayla’s first birthday, Easter and the end of my day job.  Once or twice I was able to sneak onto someone else’s computer to check e-mail - Thanks to all of you for leaving me messages.

Bet you thought I’ve been laying around pouting and watching soap operas, didn’t you?  Well okay, so I have.  But I’m over it, and moving again.  Back in April when I’m settled into my jewelery box sized home and free of the day job. 

Let’s see…three e-mails to answer, one final edit to complete, two reports to copy and mail, one agenda to create, 300 more words to write on Julianne’s Wheels, six birthday cards to buy and the bathroom needs cleaned.

Today I will…make slipcovers for the wing chairs. 

Well, don’t stop reading, this, just reading in general if you happen to be writing a book.  This advice from an article in The Writer.  Before I go any farther, know that I don’t get paid to promote anything.  There will be no kickbacks for Kat mentioning any book, magazine, movie, shampoo or lint remover in my blog.  Anyway…

The author alleges that reading a published piece while trying to write one interferes with a writer’s voice, can lead to writer’s block and at the very least, inhibit their style.  I chair a large writers group and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve admonished them that “writer’s read”.  I still believe the best writers are readers, but this article made a lot of sense.  How many times have you been half way through a best seller and thought “man, I wish I would have written that”?  Worse, how many times have you been curled up with a book and thought “what’s the use,  I can never top this”?  Have you ever blown out a weekend reading someone else’s book when you should have been writing yours? 

Personally, I’ve done all of these things at one time or another, but I also find spending a few hours with a really good book inspiring and motivational.  Perhaps the difference for me is that I don’t read in the genre I write for.  The article went on to allege that if a writer’s supply of reading material disappears, they will create the stories they seek themselves. 

Interesting theory, what do you think?

Freezing temperatures, looming deadline, dust bunnies that could take down an elephant. 

One of these three things is definately getting addressed.