The Book Meme
November 20, 2008 
Thanks to Jeanne, I have something to post tonight! A very good thing because my brain is not exactly flowing with bloggedy thoughts these days.
So you know how this goes, the rules are very simple:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open it to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don’t dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.
This is very easy – I only have one book nearby. It’s a recent purchase from Am@zon, recommended to me by Shannon (The second helpful book she’s recommended. Shannon, you are a great resource!).
From Emotions to Advocacy by Pam and Pete Wright. Page 56, 5th sentence:
There are dozens of good legal research sites on the Internet.
And isn’t that helpful information? I do love it when my internet addiction is validated.
Here’s a little more about the book from the Product Description, if you’re curious:
From Emotions to Advocacy, second edition will teach you how to plan, prepare, organize and get quality special education services. In this comprehensive, easy-to-read book, you will learn your childs disability and educational needs, how to create a simple method for organizing your childs file and devising a master plan for your childs special education. You will understand parent-school conflict, how to create paper trails and effective letter writing. This book includes dozens of worksheets, forms and sample letters that you can tailor to your needs. Whether you are new to special education or an experienced advocate this book will provide a clear roadmap to effective advocacy for your child. You will use this book again and again.
And that tells you what is consuming all my time and energy these days. I’ve bought five books in the last two weeks and every single one had to do with some issue one of my kids is dealing with. Oh how I miss reading novels!
But enough of my pity party. Now I get to tag 3 other people. Hmm… who’s doing NaMoBloPo (okay, just fudged that, is that the right acronym??) and would consider it a gift to have a topic for the day? Nicki, Beverly and Dianna, Tag, YOU’RE IT! 
The rewards of blogging
September 16, 2008 
Being a stay-at-home mom is a mostly thankless task. I’m up at 6:15 and don’t go to bed until after 11pm and nearly every minute of the day I’m doing something for somebody else – and rarely hear a “thank you.” I’d probably faint dead away if any of my kids told me I was doing a good job. Even Hubby shies away from saying that kind of thing because he feels like it puts him in the “boss” position and he doesn’t want to sound condescending. But you know, when Hubby’s work review time comes around, I’m always a little bit envious. Yeah, it’s really stressful waiting to see if his boss recognized his hard work and if he’ll get any bonus or whatever… but he gets all this great feedback in black and white, and most of it is positive. And it’s not just at review time – practically every other week he tells me that someone at work gave him a pat on the back (figuratively speaking) for doing something well. But now it’s my turn. Someone is noticing me and telling me that I did something good for once. But it’s not my kids or my Hubby – it’s my awesome Blog Friends. Have I mentioned lately how great for my mental health this little obsession can be?
I’m really late in mentioning it, but a few weeks ago the awesome Nicole at Raising Animals created her very own blog award the “Speak Your Heart” award.
And she gave it to me and Melissa. What makes this award extra-special (besides that it’s from one of my very first bloggy friends) is that Nicole gave it based on the “ability to speak your hearts and minds no matter what majority you’re up against”. Wow. That is seriously such a compliment! And how great is it that Nicole took time out of her very busy day to create this award and recognize other bloggers, even though she often disagrees with our viewpoints? I think Nicole just showcases the best part of the blogosphere – reaching out to one another to give support and encouragement.
And then, if that weren’t enough, Michelle at And Sam Makes Seven gave me the Smile Award the other day.
![[thesmileaward.jpg]](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_K8f2r1gjLas/SHbdFxYZiJI/AAAAAAAAANo/hIkx7P34BXQ/s1600/thesmileaward.jpg)
These are the rules:
1. The recipient must link back the the award’s creator (Mere, who by the way, is in high school. That’s just so impressive to me – a highschooler who creates an award to focus on the positive and encourage others – we could use more people like Mere in the world!)
2. You must post these rules if you recieve the award.
3. You must choose 5 people to recieve the award after recieving it yourself
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere.
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.
Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude. (not necessarily at all times–we are all human)
2. Must love one another
3. Must make mistakes
4. Must learn from others
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world
6. Must love life
7. Must love kids
Clearly Michelle is one of those people who can see the good in anyone because I haven’t exactly been the most cheerful person these last few months. But I definitely make mistakes (on a daily hourly minute by minute basis) and I do love life, others and kids, ahem, most of the time. (kidding!) So thank you Michelle for the pat on the back and the encouragement to stay positive!
And now I get to pass on the love and encouragement to five of my friends. Unfortunately, I was a little slow in posting and this award is making the rounds of all my blogland friends like wildfire, so chances are rather good that I may be awarding someone who already got this award. But hey, what’s wrong with telling someone they are wonderful twice?! So, if you already got this, no worries, just enjoy the extra affirmation.
My smile awards go to… (drumrolll please)…
Gretchen (adventures of lawmommy) because no matter how rough life gets (and she’s been hitting some serious rough patches lately) her blog posts always manage to make me smile. (except when they make me cry – but then sometimes I need a good cry, so it’s nice of her to help me with that too!)
Stacy (Delightful Delaney) because how can you look at her beautiful baby girl and not smile? Stacy and I have been living mirror-image lives this summer, both of us dealing with one stressful situation after another – right down to our sick kitties! – and I’ve so appreciated her ability to encourage and commiserate with me and just keep smiling through it all.
Dianna (Kansas Family) because she thinks I’m popular. (I? Have never been popular for one second in my entire life.) But that’s only part of the reason. Also because she is kind and thoughtful and supportive in a quiet-behind-the-scenes kind of way and clearly loves kids!
Elaine (Looking for George) because she never fails to crack me up. And she is making her husband grow out his hair to look like a vampire. Now that’s a woman I can admire! LOL. Also, Phullabaloney Fill says our old house is going to sell “soon” and if he is right I will kiss him square on the mouth.
Nicki (Stepping On Legos) who is right now trying to dig out from Hurricane Ike and has no cell service, which I am quite certain is killing her. Nicki is such a great mom, I love to read about her homeschooling plans and all the neat things she does with her kids. She totally inspires me to stop and take time to enjoy my kids – something I’m afraid I often forget to do. And then on top of that? Nicki is SO passionate about adoption ethics and no matter what’s happening she is always thinking of new ways to educate and inform people and I just think that’s awesome. I like her so much I’m willing to overlook the whole liberal/democrat thing. (HEE! Sorry Nicki, had to throw that in!). I’m sure Nicki is waaay too busy/stressed with life to post this award meme, but she still had to be on my list.
And now I’m stopping at 5 because I am, above all else, a rule follower. But trust me, with 69 feeds on my bloglines, there are plenty of others that I could have named!! Thanks again to my bloggy friends who made me feel appreciated. I appreciate it!!
a sports rant, a meme and a weather report
February 12, 2008 
I went to K~’s indoor soccer game last Saturday. It’s the first game I’ve been to since she started playing last month. We signed her up just to give her an excuse to get out and run around twice a week and see her school friends. Paid the soccer arena fee, the mid-week gym rental for practice fee, the jersey fee, bought her a pair of indoor soccer shoes… all so I could watch my daughter play maybe 5 minutes of a 50 minute game. Seriously. Okay, I’ll admit she’s not the best soccer player ever, but she did play on an outdoor team for 4 years so it’s not like she doesn’t know what she’s doing. And hello? It’s supposed to be recreational soccer. As in playing for FUN? I was getting really ticked watching my daughter stand on the side while all the other girls went in again and again. Just as I was about to walk over and obnoxiously say “K – what’s wrong, why aren’t you playing?”- y’know, good and loud right in front of her coach… she went in. For two and a half minutes. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I hate sports. Because sooner or later it always happens – the coach cares more about winning than about letting the kids play. I guess I should be thankful it took this long for K… A~ hit the wall in little league in the 3rd grade. It’s just a sad sad world when an adult cares more about creating the perfect winning team than about letting kids play and have fun… dontcha’ think?
My friend CC from This Good… tagged me for the Book Meme. A lot of you have done this one, but in case you don’t know it, here’s the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book of at least 123 pages.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence.
4. Post the next 3 sentences.
5. Tag 5 more people.
So here we go… I’m actually in the middle of like 3 books, but the nearest one is Philip Yancy’s “Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?”. I started reading it way back in the fall of ‘06 before we went to Vietnam (during the Very Long Wait for Approval/TA when I seriously wondered if prayer did make any difference – answer? YES.) But then I got busy with travel and all that and this book fell by the wayside until I picked it up the other day and started from the beginning again. So I haven’t read page 123 yet, so it’s new for all of us. Enough of a preamble for a meme, do you think? Geesh, Chris, just do the meme already! Okay okay, here it is:
I said, ‘Oh, king, you are a great king, but surely even you would wish to kneel before the King of Kings.’ He hesitated a moment, then got off his throne and kneeled. I prayed for peace that day, and the next days our country faced.”
I did a quick skim and apparently that part is about the Zulu king in the early 1990’s when S. Africa was undergoing big political changes. In case you were wondering.
Let’s see, Tag 5 people? I’m not great at tagging and I know a lot of you have done this thing already. But Michelle, Nicki, Jena, Crafty Mommy and Melissa if you haven’t done this one and you’re in the mood for a meme, then TAG! You’re it.
And finally, the weather report. At this moment, I am listening to the rain pour down… according to weatherbug it’s 45 degrees and raining. Supposed to get down to 36 tonight. Yep, sounds like the exact same weather we’ve had for about three straight months now. But wait, what’s that you ask? What’s the weather in Anaheim California, where we will be in just 3 short days? Why it’s mostly clear and 73.5 degrees (the high today was 80!!) … and the prediction for the next six days? Mostly sunny and low 70’s. Ahhh… now that’s my kind of weather!
Getting into the Spirit
Nicki gave me a Spirit of Christmas award which is rather amazing because, as you know, I’ve been totally AWOL for the last month and certainly haven’t posted anything Christmas-y. But she made me feel really really good by saying I live the Spirit of Christmas* every day… that is a really sweet compliment and though I’m not sure I deserve it, it sure did make me smile.
I get to tag 5 more people for the award, so I choose:
Melinda because this girl knows how to get into the Christmas spirit (check out her car decorations!)
Gretchen because she makes me laugh and she’s down to earth and real and I can use all of those things during this wonderful yet often stressful time of the year.
Elaine at Looking for George because she’s a NaNo winner like me (only she managed to keep blogging all month which is just amazing to me) and she needs lots of Christmas joy this year – though I’m still hoping she’ll be in Vietnam for Christmas.
Jeneflower because she is the most consistent blogger and she always has great gift ideas and this list from last year was a huge help to me when I was shopping for my nephews. (I got the laser game for one nephew and he said it was the “best game ever” which, you know, made me feel really cool.)
And danged if I can’t come up with a number 5… so let’s just make it anyone and everyone who wants to share your favorite Christmas memory. You can share here in the comments or on your own blog, whichever you prefer.
To get us started, I’ll share one of mine: We don’t get a lot of snow here usually. And Christmas snow is especially rare. But one year, when K~ was about 4, we were blessed with snow on Christmas Eve. Now those of you who have watched Frosty the Snowman a time or two will remember that there is something magic about the first snow of the year coming on Christmas Eve. So when we scraped all the snow in the yard together to make a snowman and plopped a hat upon his head, K~ stood there, staring at him and asked me, “when is he going to come to life?” She really, truly, believed that guy was going to dance in our backyard. And that is what I love about Christmas – the magic and the fun and the wonder. So thank you, Nicki, for giving me a push to get this blog into the Christmas Spirit!
*What is the Spirit of Christmas you ask?
Quite simply it is those that have a generous and giving nature. Those who care about others. Those who have a kind word to say or a broad shoulder to lean on in the times that others need that. Those who display the “Spirit of Christmas”.
Meme Monday (one day late) – Summertime Top 10
I was going to be all clever and have like a Meme Monday theme but it turned out making lists is harder for me than I thought and then that Peacock showed up in our back yard and so now it’s Tuesday and I still have to finish this meme! (Regarding the peacock, we’re nearly certain that someone around here raises them and this guy must’ve decided to take a little field trip for a while. Apparently other neighbors have had similar peacock-in-tree experiences. Who knew?) I’ve been tagged by Tami from Finding Maddie to post my To 10 Favorite Things About Summer. I love summer – it’s my favorite season of the year. And here’s 10 reasons why:
1. No school. Which also means no homework, no driving back and forth to the school multiple times a day and no getting up early to get everyone up and ready for school. All in all, a very good thing.
2. Lots and lots of daylight. The sun rose at 5:09am and didn’t set until 9:05pm tonight. That’s 14 hours of daylight. Love it.
3. Sunshine. I know, I live in the rainy Pacific Northwest. But not in the summer! Check this out:
| Month | Average high | Average low | Warmest ever | Coldest ever | Average dew point | Average precipitation |
| JAN. | 46 | 36 | 64 | 0 | 33 | 5.1 |
| FEB. | 50 | 37 | 70 | 1 | 35 | 4.2 |
| MARCH | 53 | 39 | 75 | 11 | 36 | 3.8 |
| APRIL | 58 | 42 | 85 | 29 | 39 | 2.6 |
| MAY | 64 | 47 | 93 | 28 | 44 | 1.8 |
| JUNE | 70 | 52 | 96 | 38 | 48 | 1.5 |
| JULY | 75 | 55 | 100 | 43 | 52 | 0.8 |
| AUG. | 76 | 56 | 99 | 44 | 53 | 1.0 |
| SEPT. | 70 | 52 | 98 | 35 | 50 | 1.6 |
| OCT. | 60 | 46 | 89 | 28 | 45 | 3.2 |
| NOV. | 51 | 40 | 74 | 6 | 39 | 5.9 |
| DEC. | 46 | 36 | 64 | 6 | 35 | 5.6 |
See – very little rain in June, July and August. I’ve heard we get even drier than Arizona!
4. The 4th of July. I’ve always loved this holiday. Probably in part because my birthday is the 5th and it always felt like the whole country was celebrating with me. But also I like a holiday that has no gift-giving, no big meals to make… just hanging out on a sunny day with family and friends, enjoying parades, barbecues and fireworks.
5. Family vacations. Beautiful summer weather means no matter where we go we’ll have a nice warm relaxing vacation. And this year we’re taking it to an extreme with our 3 week road trip. Not sure how we’ll do locked in a car with 4 kids for long periods of time, but I’m really looking forward to seeing parts of the country we’ve never seen before.
6. The whales are here. Every summer (May to September) three pods of orca whales (about 90 whales altogether) hang out in the Puget Sound. I love orcas. Don’t know why, just looking at them makes me happy. A couple of years ago we spent a week on San Juan Island and the whales came so close I got this picture:
It’s not SeaWorld close, but still… My dream is to own a house on the island and sit on my deck and watch the Orcas all summer long.
7. Kids can be kids. I try really hard to have lots of unscheduled time in the summer, days or even weeks where we have no plans and the kids just hang out and play all day. I think the best thing about being a kid in the summer is the chance to have imaginary adventures in the back yard or read a book from beginning to end in one sitting (for fun!) or create massive lego or art projects just because.
8. Family visits. Summer is a big time for company because everyone wants to come when the kids are out of school. Amazingly this year we only have one week of company but that’s okay because we sort of already booked up the summer with camps and our big trip.
9. Roses. And Strawberries. And all the other things that grow in my yard the summer. I love to garden. I’m not very good at it but when something does manage to grow I consider it quite an accomplisment.
10. My babysitter is back!! We’ve had the same sitter for five years now and the kids love her. Unfortunately, she’s away at Cornell most of the year and we’ve never been able to find anyone to replace her. (It’s rather difficult to find someone old enough to sit for my 11 year old who can also handle the 3 year old and is around on the weekends. Oh and they have to get a nod of approval from the kids too.) Thankfully H~ really enjoys hanging out with our kids and said she’s happy to sit for us again this summer. I’m so excited, Hubby and I get to go on a real, live, out of the house date tonight! I think it’s our first one in like 10 months. It will be Zeeb’s first time with a babysitter but I think he’ll do fine. He’s very comfortable in his Sunday school class at church and his sisters and brother will be here so he probably won’t even notice we’re gone. (Ok, not true because the kids get rather amped up when the sitter comes and do all sorts of fun things that I don’t do with them, but you know what I mean) Now the only question is, which movie should we see? Pirates of the Caribbean? Spiderman 3? Oh the possibilities!!
This was a meme, which means now I get to tag people… let’s try some of the new bloggers who’ve recently been added to my Blogroll: Katy, Meg, Rebecca, Charisa and Angie, Tag – You’re It!
