Living History

Okay, this is funny. As many of you know, I have made a point of making myself "29" on my MySpace. I even changed my date of birth so that I stayed "29" after my recent birthday. Additionally, I have written no less than 3 posts in someway bemoaning my age. Obviously it is something I have given some thought to. With this in mind, you can image my reaction when I decided to change my random question on my profile and discovered that according to blogger, my age is 251! The scary thing is I have not edited it in months, so for quite some time, I have been one ancient woman. Wow, 29 on one site, 251 on the other. Hard to reconcile that difference. I don't think even the Beauty Control Wrinkle deflecting bronzer is going to help that!

Well, in spite of what you might think, I got a huge chuckle out of this and made my family all come and check it out. 42 might not be so cool, but 251, that is downright impressive. Once my children realized I was born in 1756, they started asking me questions about life during the revolution. My learned husband then piped up with, "Did Martha Washington really sew the first flag?" To which Johnny responded scornfully, "Martha Washington didn't sew the flag, Betsy Ross did." Scott then went to bed. You'd think he'd be better at history being married to a woman who has lived so much of it.

P.S. I've decided to keep 1756 for my date of birth. I may not look great for 29, but I'd say I'm downright amazing for 251! :)

P.P.S. Ando, if you want any eyewitness accounts for your Past Tense, just let me know.

Go to the Cat Part II

For those of you who are not fond of cats, my apologies. At the risk of being redundant and thoroughly disgusting a few cat haters, I am going to post more lessons from the cat. To those of you who don't like cats and therefore don't like my post, my response is borrowed from the great Ando. To you I say, "Pppbbbbbbbbbbbbtt." Personally, I think the following advice is downright profound.

"Make friends where you find them." or "If life gives you dogs, make pillows of them."

"Don't cry over spilt milk." Look not at the mess, but rather see the opportunity!

And finally, "When you learn to savor life's simple pleasures you live life like a king."

P.S. Johnny's feeling slighted that I've done two posts in a row on Squiggy. He said, and I quote, "You should do more posts about me." Since I'd like to honor his wishes I will give you Johnny's thoughts on a happy life...NEVER take Algebra II.

P.P.S. Scott's wishful thinking of happiness includes never having to tutor Johnny at Algebra II. Fat chance!

Go to the Cat

As you perhaps know, we are a two cat, one dog family. If you were to read the Teen Drama Queen's blog, you would also know that one member of our family is lobbying strongly for a hamster. But I digress. What I want to discuss today is a parallel to the Biblical admonition, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!" Proverbs 6:6. Now if God thought there was wisdom to be gained through considering an insect, it is quite possible a cat could teach us a lesson as well.

Just the other night, I was painfully observing my children get upset at each other over the most infinitesimally insignificantly miniscule offenses! I told them, "Come on you guys, be like Squiggy, not like Jinx!" There you have it -- how wise is that?

I guess for the true wisdom of this advice to be fully appreciated, you need to know just a bit about our cats. Squiggy is not easily offended. Jinx is. Squiggy is not bothered by anything. Jinx is bothered by everything. Squiggy, as shown to the right, could have been pretty disgruntled in this picture. After all, Michelle had squeezed him into a doll vest that made him look utterly ridiculous. Even the dog seemed to realize this. He might as well have been wearing a big "kick me" sign. Was Squiggy affronted? Not a bit. Jinx, on the other hand, would have scratched Michelle silly.

This is one mello cat. We have not yet discovered a way to make Squiggy upset -- not that we're trying of course, it just seems that we have made this discovery effortlessly when it comes to everyone else! Our furry little critter is no martyr -- he is one contented kitty. Kind of a feline "don't worry, be happy" approach.

Furthermore, Squiggy's approach to others is very gentle. Though he wrestles regularly with Beamer (our dog), even lying in wait to ambush him unaware, he always pads his claws and never sends Beamer running in fear. And believe me, thanks to Jinx, Beamer has more than a healthy respect for cat claws. Squiggy could have Beamer cowering in a split-second should he so desire. He is the same way in his treatment of the humans in the family, except for the fact that he doesn't ambush us. Not easily offended, gentle with others and loving life besides. What a rare combination!

In conclusion, if you are a sluggard, go to the ant for a lesson. Squiggy would have nothing useful to offer on that subject. However, if you find yourself easily ruffled, "Go to the cat thou thin-skinned mortal; consider his ways and be wise."

Musings from the Birthday Girl

January brings not only a new year, but also another birthday for yours truly. When I was young, this was cause for great excitement. I never minded being the recipient of more presents so close on the heels of Christmas, quite the contrary! However, with age has come less and less enthusiasm for adding yet another year. I've tried to fight it a bit--if you were to check my MySpace, you would find that I've managed to stay "29" even with the passing of another twelve months. I've been a good customer for BeautyControl and often wear my special bronzer that claims to "deflect light away from wrinkles". Even so, it's pictures like these that remind me time's a marching on no matter what my MySpace says. Normally I would be way too vain to post a picture like this since neither the hair, nor the camera angles, not to mention the lack of make-up, wrinkle deflecting or otherwise, were cooperating in my favor. But the joy of posting the youthful face on the right outweighed my vanity. The girls had made me a birthday dinner and Scott was trying to get a shot of me with the cooks. Johnny was anxious to add his own handsome face to the picture. Since he worked so hard to stretch himself into the photo, I thought it would be a shame not to share it. Here's lookin' at you kid!

Random Thoughts and Announcements

Okay, first for the random announcement, which truly is not so random since it's the only reason I am posting tonight. My son has joined many of our family members and started his own blog. Here's his link: http://highlightofurweek.blogspot.com/ I wish I could say I was his inspiration, but I was not. Rather, it was his Uncle who never posts that inspired this bold move. That leaves only Scott who does not have his own blog. Of course he does have his own website, so maybe that should count for something. Next our dog Beamer is going to start his own blog and give you the real scoop about life with two cats.

The next random thought has to do with this picture. Kind of cute, huh. It was among some other cute pictures that Scott's Uncle sent along. I was thinking it would be a good one for Kludge's caption game, but it also spoke to me because once again we are experiencing computer woes. Did I mention that my son started his own blog today? Did I mention he was not content with the standard templates and tried his hand at some HTML programing to jazz things up a bit? Did I mention he somehow ended up with a profile in Spanish for a short time? Did I mention he finally gave up on the programming? Did I mention the computer he was working on is now completely hosed up? He doesn't believe there is a link, and maybe there isn't. We probably had a mouse crawl up into something that is now affecting my Outlook. Darn mouse!

Johnny thought I should give you Scott's caption for this picture:

"There must be an easier way to get a tattoo."

Feel free to add your own captions. (Apologies Kludge for stealing your idea)

(BTW, apparently the mouse in the picture made it out alive. Just in case you were wondering.)

I've Got Speech Fever

Our Christmas vacation this year was a little unusual. Because the girls were signed up for a speech and debate tournament in San Diego January 4 - 6, it meant we could not completely take a vacation from school. The preparation for debate alone would have given them a little to do each day, but the expository speeches they were planning to tackle provided the lion's share of the work. According to NCFCA rules, "An Expository Speech is a platform speech that 'exposes' or explains a particular topic through the use of visual aids. The speech must be an original work, scripted word for word...The speaker describes, illustrates, or defines an object, idea, or process using visual aids... Humor and satire are allowed."

Although Catie has known since the beginning of summer that she wanted to do an expository speech on puppets (Michelle just decided to do one on dogs in October), the beginning of December found both girls still writing their speeches and just in the early stages of planning their visual aids. My role in this turned out to be a very active one with my job description including speech editing, design consultant, performance critic, shopper and manual laborer. However, the toughest job by far was cracking the whip one minute, and striving to encourage and inspire the next. In between the Christmas gatherings we hosted, our large dining room table was COVERED with craft supplies and expository visual aids. At several junctures, I did not think we were going to make it! Theoretically, we could have been far better prepared and have just needed to practice & polish a few lines over Christmas vacation. Practically speaking however, I doubt it would be any different next year. What am I saying? How could we possibly consider doing this again next year??? I don't think giving birth was this painful!

Catie's speech contained a segment on the Muppets. As a result of muppets on the brain, we rented Muppet's Christmas Carol and Muppet's Treasure Island over the break. Michelle used the song, "Cabin Fever", as the inspiration for this little poem I found at by one of her boards. It summed up our preparations experience quite well:

I've got speech fever

It's driving me insane

I've got speech fever

I'm afraid I must complain

I 've got speech fever

Can't go on another day

I've got speech fever

I must stop and play!!!

To say we were questioning our sanity was putting it mildly. However, as I sat in Michelle's first expository round, I know the smile on my face was huge. I had the joy of watching her give her very best performance right there in front of the judges. In the end, both girls far exceeded any expectations, advancing not only to semi-finals but then onto finals as well. It was a new experience for the Rowlands family to make it so far and I was so very thankful that God graciously allowed the girls to do it together.

Hmmm. Maybe it was worth it. Like childbirth, I would not be surprised if we forget the pain & stretchmarks of preparation and find ourselves birthing two more expository speeches next year.