Well-Mannered Frivolity

Cute or creepy?

Wendy

Enjoy

Natalie Portman's Shaved Head - Sophisticated Side Ponytail

<3,
Wendy

Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge

I've decided to join The Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge @ Beth Fish Reads. I heard about it here.
My loyal blog reader(s) (hi mom) are probably rolling their (her) eyes. I have signed up for several reading challenges in the past only to never complete them. This one will be a cinch though. I've already read the first book and enjoyed it immensely. I have even foisted it off on my best friend. I already own the other books. And I have 1 year to complete the challenge. I am in like Flynn.

I can't wait to see True Blood--the HBO series based on the books. I am (not so) patiently waiting to borrow it from my brother (David, are you reading this?)

First, though, I have to finish the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.  Have I mentioned  how utterly charming those books are. I wish I could bring all  my problems/mysteries to Precious Ramotswe.

<3
Wendy

Today is my 14th wedding anniversary

We have made it even though the odds were stacked against us.
We married young (I was 23 Bill was 21)
We "had' to get married (if you know what I mean)
We are raising multiples
We were (and are) broke

Bill and I essentially eloped. We got married at a lawyers office for 20 bucks. We were only allowed 2 guests, so we invited my parents. We got married July 1st and had Katherine December 28th of the same year. And she was 2 weeks overdue. You can do the math yourself.

The very day we got married we  moved into my parent's house. There was no honeymoon for us! In September we moved into a very small one bedroom apartment, and Bill got a job at the Publix across the street as a stock boy. He rode his bike to work to save on insurance-I had a driver's license, he didn't. 

We owe a large part of our martial success to my parents. I'd like to take a moment here to thank them.---Thanks Mama and (especially Daddy).

I really wanted to post the video for the Anniversary Song by The Cowboy Junkies, but, alas, there is no video. In it's stead I will post Sweet Jane by the same band. It is one of the (very) few songs both Bill and I like.

Enjoy

Here's to another great 14 years. I hope our marriage has a happier ending than Mark Sanford's.

<3
Wendy

To be the man you have to beat the man

or at the very least, get him to autograph your book.

Earlier tonight (actually yesterday) the Fairfull Family shuffled off to Walmart for a Ric Flair autograph event. Yes, I realize that was probably the most redneck moment of my life. We stood in line for about 1 hour with a very interesting array of humanity, and I'm including myself in that interesting array (lest you think I'm getting above myself).

I am currently dying suffering from bronchitis. This actually turned out to work in my favor as it kept the interesting array from getting in my hula hoop zone. When you are hacking like bull moose during mating season people tend to give you a wide berth. My coughing comes in spurts. I'll be fine for about 15 minutes or so, and then I will cough so hard that I can't catch my breath for about a minute. I just knew I would have one of these spasms at the exact moment I met The Nature Boy--Here Mr Flair, don't bother with my book, just sign the lower lobe of my left lung which I have hacked up just for  you. Don't want to sully up your Sharpie? You can just sign it with the abundance of mucous that I have conveniently provided.

As we got closer to the front of the line I developed a new worry. You see, when I am having these unfortunate coughing incidents I, on the rare occasion, oh, how shall I put it? I break wind. There I would stand, in front of a living legend, hacking and farting.  Lucky for me neither episode transpired.

By the time we got to the head of the line we were so starstruck that we inconveniently forgot how to communicate effectually.  When it was Katherine's turn to get her picture signed, "Naitch" asked her how to spell her name,  as there are several different ways to spell Katherine (Catherine, Katherine, Kathryn, Cathryn, Katharine.....). The poor girl was so tongue tied that she momentarily forgot how to spell her name. Thankfully, after a great deal of little intense concentration on my part I was able to step in and save her. Whew. 

And let's not forget Mary Jane. While we were standing in line she was chewing on a pen (she gets her oral fixation from me). Well, the pen broke. She got covered in blue ink. The more she tried to clean it up the bluer she got. I took her to the bathroom to help clean her up, but the ink was rather stubborn. She quite resembled a Smurf.

Standing in line for an hour at a very hot Walmart with bronchitis hearkened me back to the day I stood in line and voted while I was in labor with the twins. I may be a redneck, but I am also very civic minded.

BTW- Ric Flair is more buff in person than he appears to be on TV. It's hard to believe he is 60 years old. I guess a combination of extensive plastic surgery and a life time of steroid abuse is the fountain of youth.

<3,
Wendy

Weird Al Wednesday

This one is for my children. I think Katherine can sing this song by heart.

Wendy

Wishful Drinking

I read Carrie Fisher's memoir Wishful Drinking today. It was a quick and easy read at 161 pages, and I couldn't put it down. I checked it out of the library around 2:30 and finished it at 10:00. That's right folks, I read during Monday Night Raw. That's practically unheard of.

I already knew that Carrie was a recovering addict. What I wasn't aware of was that she is bipolar. I love what she said about her mental condition in the author's note at the end of the book--

"One of the things that baffles me (and there are quite a few) is how there can be so much lingering stigma with regards to mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder. In my opinion, living with manic depression takes a tremendous amount of balls. Not unlike a tour of duty in Afghanistan (thought the bombs and bullets, in this case, come from the inside). At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you're living with this illness and functioning at all, it's something to be proud of, not ashamed of.
They should issue medals along with the steady stream of medications one has to ingest."

Wow.

The whole book was great fun (mostly). I enjoyed reading about  her childhood, growing up with famous parents. She compares  her mother, Debbie Reynolds, her father, Eddie Fisher, and the marriage wrecker, Elizabeth Taylor to Jennifer Anniston, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie. The major difference, or course, being that Brad and Jen didn't have any kids to screw up. I'm not sure how the Branglina Bunch will fare, but that's another topic for another time.

I also learned that she was married to Paul Simon. How did I not know that? I love Paul Simon. I love trivia. I must have just forgotten that little factoid. Right now my mind is so crowded with the Jon and Kate + 8 debacle that it is pushing other important information out. Jon and Kateare like a particularly bad car wreck. You know you shouldn't slow down and gawk, but at the same time, you just can't help yourself. But I digress......

Carrie Fisher also talks about her stint as Princess Leia. She is particularly proud of the fact that she has her likeness forever immortalized as a Pez dispenser.

I wouldn't recommend Wishful Drinking if you are a little uptight about language. The language is a little, shall we say, salty. I have no problem with a little cussing myself. When I was about 12 my mother decided to pay me a quarter every time she said a bad word* in a valiant effort to stop cussing. Then there was the fateful day she installed Contact Paper on the cabinet below the kitchen sink. That's pretty much how I paid for my first car. James has also taken up his own form of cussing--If something ticks him off he says "Oh c-word" or "Oh s-word". Literally, that's what he says. He doesn't say the actual word, just c-word and s-word. That's what you get when you have my laizze faire parenting skillz.

<3,
Wendy

*In fairness to my mother the only bad words I ever heard her say are shit and damn. Perfectly good words when used correctly, in my opinion.

Always read the label

So, I've been out sick. After a week of hacking and coughing and generally feeling miserable I hauled myself to the doctor. Turns out I have bronchitis and, as an added bonus, an ear infection. Who knew! My ear wasn't even hurting. Of course, I do  have a pretty high pain tolerance. I did once give birth twice in less than an hour with faulty pain meds. What's a little ear infection compared to that?

Dr. L prescribed cough syrup and a Z-pack. Apparently though the cough syrup script doesn't exist. I tried my best to get it filled, but the pharmacy didn't have it. The pharmacy warehouse didn't have it. The pharmacies they called didn't have it. I didn't want to call for another prescription, though. I was worried my Dr L would think I was a codeine junkie. Yes, I would rather hack up a lung or two than appear to be a drug addict to my doctor.  I found a pretty good OTC substitute--Tylenol Cold and Cough. I diligently took it every six hours as per the instructions. It really knocked out my hacking cough. The only problem was that I spent two days on the couch. I thought I must have pneumonia or, at the very least, the swine flu, because I was so exhausted. I got up this morning to take my 6 hourly dose when I noticed a little tiny moon on the bottom corner of the label. Upon closer inspection I realized I was taking the nighttime formula.

The moral of the story is instead of appearing to be a junkie to my doctor I appeared to be a junkie to my husband and children.

Always, always, always pay careful attention to the label.

<3,
Wendy

The theme is getting a little tired

Okay, so I loveAnne Rice, got sucked into the Twilight series and am charmed by Sookie Stackhouse. But please, for the love of Pete, can we release some fiction that doesn't involve the undead?
Vampires are running especially rampant in the YA section. My YA reader is sick of the vampires!

<3,
Wendy

The Sunday Salon 6/7/09

This has been a bit of a slow week reading wise. . I've only read two and a half books. And the half book is a reread.

Dead Until Dark (Southern Vampire Mysteries, Book 1) by Charlaine Harris
A clairvoyant waitress, a handsome vampire, a small Southern town. What more could you ask for? This was a very fun, light read. I've already started the second book in the series. I think there are 9 books in it. I can't wait to see the HBO series, True Blood, based on the books. I'm (not so) patiently waiting to borrow it from my brother.

Life Learning: Lessons from the Educational Frontier edited by Wendy Prieznitz.
A collection of essays on unschooling. I think I like the term 'life learning' better than unschooling. The word unschooling seems to imply that we are neglecting our children's' education. Life learning shows that we are all learning together through, well, life.
"Life Learning is the story of how children can personalize and control their own learning...and what adults can do (and stop doing) to help them."

Parenting A Free Child: An Unschooled Life by Rue Kream
"Parenting A Free Child: An Unschooled Life presents a radical approach to parenting and education in a way that seems logical, obvious and natural. I use the word “radical” because Kream’s approach is very different to mainstream parenting, even within the homeschooling community. It is built on an incredible and absolute trust in her two children and aims to give them control over all aspects of their life."
Rather than reinvent the wheel, just read this review
This is my half book. I've turned to it many times during our shift to radical unschooling.

Wendy