Just a little something to finish off the week.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday Three: It's Baaaaack!!!
At least for this week according to Papa Possum:
What’s a Thursday without a Three?
Hmm? What’s that? You don’t understand what I’m saying?!
Well, first of all, that’s because I’m not saying anything, I’m writing it.
And second, actually, I’m not even doing that, since I don’t blog anymore.
But by way of backstory, here at Possumblog back when it was fully funct (and not defunct as it is now), we (the editorial we) and our (again, editorially) vast swarm of readers would take every Thursday and engage in a bit of alliterative memery, namely, the Thursday Three. Three (or more) probing, insightful questions would be proffered by the editorial staff writers, and readers would chime in with their very own answers to said questions. By doing so, we (collectively) could all learn what made each other tick (or how we got ticks) and revel in each others virtual companionship.
Believe it or not, at one time the Thursday Three was the most widely-read and participated-in, weekly day-of-the-week meaningless Internet meme in the entire world. (You shouldn’t believe that.)
Sadly, though, as occasionally happens with such things, the fun came to a screeching halt on August 1, 2007 when I was getting ready to take on my new job and pretty much lost the free time I once had to sit around and piddle and maunder. Since that time, I have completely never blogged ever again--not even a single post. With the exception (maybe) of the last Thursday Three on August 9, 2007.
So, why am I posting something now?
I’m not. Since I don’t blog anymore, this can’t be a blog post.
However, my good friend Jim Smith (his real name) mentioned he’d like to see something like the ol’ T-3 from Possumblog again. You know, it being that his 60th birthday is coming up this Saturday. Not that there’s any pressure.
Geez--nothing like a load of GUILT to make you heave a heavy sigh and grudgingly grab your keyboard and knock together a quick simulacrum of a quiz to give all both of my remaining readers something to do for several minutes. And celebrate Jimbo's SIXTIETH BIRTHDAY! ICE CREAM AND PONIES AND CAKE!
But how to do this, since I no longer do this?
How about the Non-Thursday Non-Three!
Sounds good to me.
SO, take a moment to peruse the following non-three non-questions and either leave your answers in the comment section below, or a link to your blog (although it’s been so long since I’ve done this, the idea of people having a blog is so early-21st Century that I should probably have some accommodation for you not-quite-as-early-21st Century Twitter people. Good thing I don’t care about you like that.)
ANYwho--since we’re coming up on Thanksgiving, answer me these nonqueries:
1. What one person are you most thankful for this year?
2. What one thing are you most thankful for this year?
3. What one event are you most thankful for this year?
AND, as a big fat bonus unquestion:
4. So, how’s it going? How’ve you been lately?
So here are my answers:
1) I am thankful for a lot of people. My husband for one, he supports my crazy ideas like purple hair. My very good friend Meryl who is always happy to talk about nothing several times a day and is brave enough to watch the hoard. But the person I am most thankful for is my mother. She just turned 80 (!) this year, but really her attitude is far, far younger. It is from her I have learned to be myself.
2) I am thankful that we all continue to be in good health and that Tamiflu is the bestest drug ever. Four of us got the dreaded piggy flu and it was no big deal. We were quick to spot it and thus we could get Tamiflu. Max in particular was the most worrisome and it never went beyond a slight cold.
3) I am thankful for my eldest son's Bar Mitzvah and what a fantastic job he did. It was such a treat watching him up on the Bema leading services while suroounded by friends and family.
4) On the whole things are quite well around here. I've got a full fridge and a full pantry in anticipation of Thanksgiving and I'm really looking forward to pulling it all together next Thursday.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Artist of the Week: A Bat Story
Max is this week's artist.
It is amazing how fierce a cute little guy like Max can look. I really need to take more pictures of him in his pirate costume, he loves it so very, very much. I'm glad he is able to step beyond is Star Wars and army man obsessions.
nyway, before Halloween his class had an assignment to write a story about either a pumpkin or a bat. They got to stamp the image on a sheet of paper and then they had to do a short description and/or story.
Max went whole hog.
He even went as far as added lines to the page so that he could neatly write his story. The spelling and grammar are a bit wonky, but that is not the point. The teachers want to get the kids about writing, the nuts and bolts come later in the year.
So here it is:
The story of a bat that couldn't catch a fly. Once there was a bat that couldn't catch a fly. His friends made fun of him, that he couldn't catch a fly. One night his father was catching for him. He told his Mom he was going to catch a fly. But no matter how much he cried to catch a fly. One night he went to fly, a fly flew by and teased him. Then he flew as fast as he can, he caught the fly. Finally he said.
It was by far the longest and most complex story of the bunch. Max's handwriting has come a long way from just last year. Yes, the spelling is very creative, but so is the story. Max is turning out to be a good little story teller.
It is amazing how fierce a cute little guy like Max can look. I really need to take more pictures of him in his pirate costume, he loves it so very, very much. I'm glad he is able to step beyond is Star Wars and army man obsessions.
nyway, before Halloween his class had an assignment to write a story about either a pumpkin or a bat. They got to stamp the image on a sheet of paper and then they had to do a short description and/or story.
Max went whole hog.
He even went as far as added lines to the page so that he could neatly write his story. The spelling and grammar are a bit wonky, but that is not the point. The teachers want to get the kids about writing, the nuts and bolts come later in the year.
So here it is:
The story of a bat that cutin cach a fly. Wus there was a dat that cutin cach a fly. His ferns made fun of him. That he cutin cach a fly. Wun nite his foder was caching for him. He tod his Mom he was going to cach a fly. But no mater how much he cried to cach a fly. Wun nite he went to a fly a fly floow biye and teest him. Then he floow ess fast ess he can he cat the fly finule he said.And here it is in a slightly easier to read form:
The story of a bat that couldn't catch a fly. Once there was a bat that couldn't catch a fly. His friends made fun of him, that he couldn't catch a fly. One night his father was catching for him. He told his Mom he was going to catch a fly. But no matter how much he cried to catch a fly. One night he went to fly, a fly flew by and teased him. Then he flew as fast as he can, he caught the fly. Finally he said.
It was by far the longest and most complex story of the bunch. Max's handwriting has come a long way from just last year. Yes, the spelling is very creative, but so is the story. Max is turning out to be a good little story teller.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The Pretty White Horses
A few months ago I was looking up some sort of event (I have since forgotten what it was) when I accidentally found out that The World Famous Lipizzaner Stallions* were coming to the Richmond Coliseum. Since Rebecca is pony mad and I too have a certain fondness for horses, it behooved me to get tickets. And so we slogged over to the coliseum one fine summer's day after somebody's orthodontist appointment (the dental school is just a couple of blocks away) to buy the tickets.
For once I find out about an event early enough to get good seats. In fact they were not just good, they were fabulous. We had our choice, from the second row on back. I decided on roughly in the middle, conveniently on the aisle. Once home I pinned the tickets to the bulletin board and noted the event on the calendar.
And life went on.
On the first of the month Rebecca asked me if I knew where the tickets are. I showed her the enveloped stilled pinned to the bulletin board and even gave her a little peek inside. Satisfied that we still had the tickets she went off to play.
Last Saturday was the big day. The plan was that after services she and I would change and then head on up to Richmond, the only potential problem was the Richmond marathon. Numerous streets would closed and it could be tricky getting into our chosen parking lot. I left a good 15 minutes earlier than necessary in case there was a problem.
Fortunately for us, it was a snap. The stretch of Broad street w needed to drive on was free and clear and parking was easy. We had more than enough time to walk the two blocks to the coliseum and find our seats.
Rebecca was enraptured by the horses, particularly when they preformed "The Airs Above the Ground." The power evident in the horse pictured above starting to lift its forefeet off the ground in the Levade is absolutely amazing. If you click on the picture it will take you to my photo set of Lipizzaner pictures. This was my second time seeing them. Last time I was almost thirty years younger and I felt the same this time around, a feeling of excitement and awe. I can ride, but not at that level of perfection. I love watching the beautiful white horses in action and so does my daughter.
* Warning the site does have music, but it is a pleasant version of "The Blue Danube Waltz" and you do have the option in the upper right corner to turn it off.
For once I find out about an event early enough to get good seats. In fact they were not just good, they were fabulous. We had our choice, from the second row on back. I decided on roughly in the middle, conveniently on the aisle. Once home I pinned the tickets to the bulletin board and noted the event on the calendar.
And life went on.
On the first of the month Rebecca asked me if I knew where the tickets are. I showed her the enveloped stilled pinned to the bulletin board and even gave her a little peek inside. Satisfied that we still had the tickets she went off to play.
Last Saturday was the big day. The plan was that after services she and I would change and then head on up to Richmond, the only potential problem was the Richmond marathon. Numerous streets would closed and it could be tricky getting into our chosen parking lot. I left a good 15 minutes earlier than necessary in case there was a problem.
Fortunately for us, it was a snap. The stretch of Broad street w needed to drive on was free and clear and parking was easy. We had more than enough time to walk the two blocks to the coliseum and find our seats.
Rebecca was enraptured by the horses, particularly when they preformed "The Airs Above the Ground." The power evident in the horse pictured above starting to lift its forefeet off the ground in the Levade is absolutely amazing. If you click on the picture it will take you to my photo set of Lipizzaner pictures. This was my second time seeing them. Last time I was almost thirty years younger and I felt the same this time around, a feeling of excitement and awe. I can ride, but not at that level of perfection. I love watching the beautiful white horses in action and so does my daughter.
* Warning the site does have music, but it is a pleasant version of "The Blue Danube Waltz" and you do have the option in the upper right corner to turn it off.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Yummy Pumpkin
This is what greeted me at the door the other day.
A little dog madly wagging his tail and desperately wanting to bring his pumpkin inside and enjoy it where it is warm and dry. This, however, was not an option and Dell was told to "drop it" before coming inside. Dell loves the pumpkins and is main culprit in their slow, but inevitable destruction.
Normally they would be gone by now, but a week's worth of extremely wet weather put the kibosh on pumpkin disposal. Now I'm waiting for the lawn to be a tad less squishy so I can use the wagon without creating ruts. Most likely it will be tomorrow, which will make little Delly a very sad dog.
A little dog madly wagging his tail and desperately wanting to bring his pumpkin inside and enjoy it where it is warm and dry. This, however, was not an option and Dell was told to "drop it" before coming inside. Dell loves the pumpkins and is main culprit in their slow, but inevitable destruction.
Normally they would be gone by now, but a week's worth of extremely wet weather put the kibosh on pumpkin disposal. Now I'm waiting for the lawn to be a tad less squishy so I can use the wagon without creating ruts. Most likely it will be tomorrow, which will make little Delly a very sad dog.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Birthday in Motion
Friday we had Nate's birthday party at the local laser tag facility. Nate got to invite a bunch of his friends and then spend the evening trying to shot them all up. Which, from the eleven year old boy perspective, is an awesome thing to do.
As is often the case, I have very few pictures of Nate that are not blurred by his constant motion. I like the one featured here because you can see the grin plastered all over his face. Even though his laser gun died halfway through the first of two games, he still had a fabulous time. Fortunately he wasn't stuck with the same gun and was able to come in second during the next game.
As for the cake, I'm very pleased on how it came out.
Nate wanted a plain cake with vanilla frosting. His only decorating request was that he would like to have a three dimension tank on top. I asked him if he wanted soldiers as well . He was delighted with the idea and said yes he would like my soldiers to make an appearance. (and yes I did say my soldiers, I have my very own set that is kept safe and is only used for cake decorating).
After a bit of thought I agreed to the task and this is what I made. It took three cupcakes (leftovers from Wednesday's cupcake drop off at school on his actual birthday), seven pretzels, and a whole lot of frosting. With careful carving of the cupcakes I was able to fashion a cute little tank. I think the best part is the wheels. I was originally planning on just drawing them on, but I got a great idea as I looked for a pretzel stick for the tank's gun. I could use the mini-twists are were in the same snack bag as the pretzel stick to represent the wheels and tank treads.
Nate loved the cake and his friends were pretty darn impressed.
As is often the case, I have very few pictures of Nate that are not blurred by his constant motion. I like the one featured here because you can see the grin plastered all over his face. Even though his laser gun died halfway through the first of two games, he still had a fabulous time. Fortunately he wasn't stuck with the same gun and was able to come in second during the next game.
As for the cake, I'm very pleased on how it came out.
Nate wanted a plain cake with vanilla frosting. His only decorating request was that he would like to have a three dimension tank on top. I asked him if he wanted soldiers as well . He was delighted with the idea and said yes he would like my soldiers to make an appearance. (and yes I did say my soldiers, I have my very own set that is kept safe and is only used for cake decorating).
After a bit of thought I agreed to the task and this is what I made. It took three cupcakes (leftovers from Wednesday's cupcake drop off at school on his actual birthday), seven pretzels, and a whole lot of frosting. With careful carving of the cupcakes I was able to fashion a cute little tank. I think the best part is the wheels. I was originally planning on just drawing them on, but I got a great idea as I looked for a pretzel stick for the tank's gun. I could use the mini-twists are were in the same snack bag as the pretzel stick to represent the wheels and tank treads.
Nate loved the cake and his friends were pretty darn impressed.
Friday, November 13, 2009
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