Skills Needed

Well my baby has less than a month to go before she is officially a teen. Of course she has thought of herself as a teen for years, so really this is all just a formality. Tonight we made a trip to Verizon to check out a cell phone for said almost-teen's quickly approaching birthday. It turned out that the $50 rebate on the phone will be expiring in a couple of days, although they might extend it like as not. But just in case Verizon sticks to the stated plan, we went ahead and bought the phone today. Boy did that make our little sweetheart happy. She chipped in a bit of her own $$$ and upgraded her gift to one of the new "Chocolates". This one has a fancy wheel control --the kind used on iPods that I have yet to figure out -- and all sorts of cool features I did not know she needed on a phone, for instance a video camera. But hey, she was able to make a cute video of herself walking around the kitchen and talking about her new phone -- if she's ever famous it might make good You Tube material, and even if she's not, I'll still think it's cute!

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It makes you realize though that using a phone requires way more skills than it used to.

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In addition to adding Michelle to our plan, we also upgraded to the plan that included unlimited texting for all users. I am realizing that I need to work on my skills to really master texting. It's not that I've never done it -- I was cool enough to do a little text messaging while on the high school trip in March, especially since I was in the van and did not have to worry about the any of the high schoolers on the bus seeing how long it took me to painstakingly type out each of my letters. I've sent about 3 messages since, because although it was kind of fun, it wasn't covered by my plan,and I'm way too cheap to rack up an extra bill for text messages! Now however, we've got a plan which means I'm getting more for my money if I actually text like crazy!

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I didn't wait long to get started and sent Michelle a message on her phone while we were still in the car -- it took me approximately 10 minutes to type in a birthday greeting -- it took her .5 seconds to read it back to me upon receiving it. I need to get better at this. Learning to use abbreviated English and forgetting every form of punctuation might be a start.

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P.S. Wondering about the ***? For some reason I keep losing my new paragraph spacing everytime I preview this. I know there's a way to program in a hard return, but you know, if I could remember how to do that, I'd probably know all about text messaging as well!

Rounding Out the Cultural Literacy

For those of you who echoed my children's response, "Emily who?", here is a bit of education courtesy of that wonder we call the internet!


1873–1960, American authority on etiquette, b. Baltimore. Born into a wealthy family, Post began her literary career as a novelist. Her best-known book, however, is Etiquette (1922), a practical guide to proper social behavior, written in a lively style. Etiquette gained wide popularity and sold over a million copies; the 12th and subsequent revised editions were edited by Post’s granddaughter-in-law, Elizabeth L. Post. Emily Post broadcast on the radio after 1931 and produced a daily column on good taste that was syndicated in more than 200 newspapers.—Columbia Encyclopedia

Now you know who Emily Post is and your cultural literacy is just slightly better rounded!

P.S. For a more interesting look at manners, check out Kludges' 2nd comment on "Emily Who" -- he invoked an authority that is well revered in this house!

Emily Who?

Well I think catching up with two months of blogging in one post has rejuvenated my creative process -- either that or I am desperately looking for an excuse to take a mental break from the think/produce intensive three-day weekend I have planned. Actually, even aside from putting off the mental gymnastics, I realized yesterday I am thinking like a blogger again. Here is the scene:



We took advantage of a small window of time and scooted out to Doran Beach for an overnight get away -- one last summer outing before school begins Monday. We snagged a lovely campsite and enjoyed a delightful family time complete with walks on the beach, skim & boogie boarding, barbecued steak, and a game of cards. As a perfect end to our seaside junket, we stopped off at Lucas Wharf on our way home for clam chowder and fish & chips.

It was when I looked across the table and noticed Michelle gnawing away on an enormous slice of french bread that I felt the need to introduce a little Emily Post. I then glanced at Catie and realized she was working on a rather large piece herself. "Kids," I told them, sure they would be grateful for the enlightening I was about to offer, "it isn't polite to eat a large piece of bread like that. You are really supposed to break off a small piece from the larger one you have taken and butter only the small piece. After you eat the small piece, you can take another small piece from your larger piece and butter it for eating." Scott backed me up on this tidbit of refinement. Unfortunately, the younger generation was far from gratefully receiving this genteel exhortation.

"That's stupid." Johnny didn't leave us any doubt about his thoughts.

"That's ridiculous -- it doesn't make any sense." Catie agreed.

Michelle, while not liking it any more that the other two, seemed to be saving her energy for the hamburger she'd ordered rather than throwing herself as wholeheartedly into the disparaging of nonsensical manners. Johnny and Catie, however, had just begun. They proceeded to give all the practical reasons their critically thinking minds could come up with for why this was not only unnecessary but downright irritating as well.

Finally I threw in the towel and told them, "Okay, embarrass yourselves someday if you'd like, but just make sure to tell people your mother told you what was the right thing to do."

"Oh sure, she told me when I was 17." Johnny commented.

Hmmm, I could see my parenting was not going to emerge well from this one. This is when my blogger mind started to kick in. "Hey, maybe this would make an entertaining post." Once again offer a couple of people an opportunity to peek into my world and feel grateful for their own!

As my older two continued to mock the concept of the small pieces of bread, Catie began cutting her french fries into minute pieces and eating them with a fork, saying, "This is the polite way to eat french fries." Johnny then bemoaned the fact he did not have a tiny glass to pour some of his water in to drink a small thimbleful at a time.

It was a sad hour for Emily Post. My kid's response: Emily who?

Guilt-ridden Blogger

Well, I can't say that I'm a once-again inspired blogger, but I am feeling a little bad that I have not posted anything since June, so I'm going to tell my readers what I've done over my summer vacation. Sound riveting? Just you wait...

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Well, in early July, as alluded to in my last post, we went to Family camp and spent several days with some fellow bloggers which resulted in the rejuvenating of my creative juices to the point where I was bursting forth with abundant posts just waiting to get out...well...not really...but I did have a very good time. This first picture is one of the MANY Settler's of Catan games we played during the week. I believe that Scott and Chris are in a dispute over the interpretation of the rules as this photo was taken. If my memory serves me right, Sarah won this game. Johnny wasn't actually playing, but did play the next night. Maybe Chris, Jeremy or Josh would like to blog about that game!

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After family camp, we enjoyed a visit from June and The Fundamentalist That Never Blogs, and their three charming children, including my niece who's about to leave for college. We had an enjoyable time but it did not inspire a return to the blogosphere -- although word has it that Christian's dancing at cousin Johnny's wedding would have merited quite the post! Or better yet, You Tube!

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In the middle of the Graves visit, we had Vacation Bible school. Michelle & I taught 4th grade with Debbie Lin -- we had a blast! Catie enjoyed the realization of one of her dreams and had a starring role as one of the main characters in the VBS skits. Needless to say, she ate it up. I took about 350 pictures during the week and made a new slide show for my class to view each day complete with music and silly effects.

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Well, the same day that four of the Graves flew back to Indiana, we took the remaining Graves the fair. Since 2004, I have worn the shame of being the only member of my immediate family to never have received a blue ribbon at the fair. Even my dear husband won a blue three years ago for his pound cake. It's been a source of genuine, unadulterated pride for him ever since. During VBS week, I got a call from Debbie to tell me that the stamped Bible verse/prayer cards I entered had received a Best of Show.

When I got off the phone, I told my family, "Guess how one of my entries did at the fair?" Scott turned and said, in a rather condescending voice, "Did you finally get a blue ribbon?" I answered no, but did not elaborate, to which he responded, "Oh, that's too bad. You still don't have a blue ribbon," and then under his breath he muttered, "like I do." It was at this point that one of the kids said, "Did you get a Best of Show?" The look on Scott's face as I nodded yes was a better prize than the ribbon. Speaking of that very large ribbon, I have had fun displaying it prominently in our room!

I must say too, all the kids did well with their entries, and Catie entered the little doll dress she had crocheted last September that impressed me so much. Apparently it also impressed the judges because she too ended up with a Best of Show. You go girl!

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And finally, the last big event of our summer vacation was our family trip to Spirit West Coast held at Laguna Seca in Monterrey. For three days we had the opportunity to enjoy non-stop Christian concerts and speakers. We only attended a fraction of what was available but still managed to see quite a bit. We camped with several other familes on a high, windy and foggy bluff that overlooked the race track. If you have teens and can brave the porta-potties and loud music, I recommend it as a family adventure. The two pictures I am including from SWC are of dodging Captain Crunch at the Newsboys Concert and one of David Crowder on the jumbotron. Getting to see what David Crowder (whom I called David Chowder the entire time) looks like was one of the educational aspects of our SWC experience. Honestly though, he put on a good concert.

So there you have it -- two months worth of blogging in one fell post. I guess I can graduate from guilt-ridden to caught up.