I'm Emailing Matt Damon!

Or in reality he is emailing me! I had to call a software company on behalf of one of my students today. The tech support guy was very kind and after our brief conversation he sent met an email with some instructions to download.

If I knew how to take a 'screen shot' I'd do that but since I don't I just grabbed my camera and took this grainy shot...




Do you see what I saw when I opened my email. A message from Matt Damon to me! Me!

Ok, so his name is Damon Matt (poor guy) but it still gave me a little jolt to see his name at the top of my inbox. ;-)

It put a smile on my face today - and I needed that.
Thanks Matt, Damon.

At The Park

Seeing as we had such GORGEOUS weather today I could not resist a picnic at the park with the girls.

We arrived at the park not long before lunch so the girls were ready and very excited to set up our picnic right away!



Lunch was happily consumed by all.







And then the girls decided that a walk along the riverbank was in order.



And they spent much time playing by the river --



poking sticks in the mud...



...and throwing leaf-boats in to watch them sail.



And, of course they played hard on the playground, too.





They played so hard that it became impossible for the youngest to stay awake past 3PM.


(E curled up on the entry rug by the back door. Poor tired little bean!)

A good first day of spring break. :-)

Rock On!

Here's my imaginary rock band's first imaginary cover (doesn't look like it would attract much attention, let alone go platinum, does it?):

This was created by a musically inspired Meme found at Vexed in the City called the Let's Make a Band Meme!

The rules are as follows:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:RandomThe first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2. http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album.(you might have to click new random quotes at the bottom)

3. http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

You then take the pic and add your band name and the album title to it, then post your pic. Tada!

Coming out of hibernation...

...because I just had to share the results of a quiz I found over at The Reluctant Prophet...

You Belong in 1980

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

What Year Do You Belong In?

I'm not sure I'm in total agreement about the "wild and over the top part"...but yeah, I'm a bit cheesy. And the decade certainly fits!

I hope to get back in the groove soon. I just have not felt much like using my brain while on the computer of late. I've been doing a fair bit of knitting and trying to work on increasing my exercise quota - both of which have cut into the computer time - and when I've been online I've been zoning out playing games on Pogo.com (does anyone really win those freakin' jackpots?! I could use $4999.00 right about now) and reading other peoples blogs. Yeah, I'm a dweeb. But, I hope y'all still love me.

We've also had some illnesses in the house - Rick is the most recent victim and R and A have been fighting off various germs for the past 7-10 days.

Other than that, I'm just trying to adjust to the fact that it is 2008 which means R will be turning 8 in a matter of weeks. What the heck?! Wasn't she a toothless, squirmy bundle in my arms not that long ago? And how is it that A will board the Big Bus to Kindergarten in the not too distant future? And let's not even talk about the little 2-year-old imp who resides in this house and thinks she's the boss. Where are all my babies???

Among other things I'm preoccupied with thoughts of returning to work this Fall. I have, for some time now, planned to rejoin the workforce once E was (in my sole estimation) old enough to be off to daycare/preschool. My fabulous neighbor (and E's godmother, to boot!) had been informed many moons ago that we would like E to join her little gaggle of daycare kids starting this Fall and so we asked for a full-day Tuesday/Thursday spot on her roster. So, the plans are in motion and soon I'll need to brush off the old resume and see what's out there. In fact, I went looking for said resume this evening and much to my chagrin it appears to have been, at some point, wiped clear off this computer's hard drive. Not intentionally, mind you - but likely the victim of some kind of meltdown or crash or some such. Rick takes great pains to retrieve what he can but it appears that my resume is gone for good. Rather than reinvent the wheel I have sent off a somewhat embarrassing email to my most recent boss to ask if she has, perchance, a copy of my old resume so that I have a better starting place than from scratch. Sigh. Here's hoping. I would hate to have to start from the basement up on that thing! I hate writing resumes!!!

So, there you have it. The latest (not very exciting) post from yours truly. I can't make any promises but I'll try to get back here sooner rather than later. Ciao for now!

More Fun with Cut and Paste....

Now that all three girls are home ALL DAY LONG for summer vacation I don't know how much time/energy/thought I'll be able to spare to writing in this blog... Wish me luck -- today is day one of Summer Vacation 2007 and I just hope we all survive in one piece with some level of sanity remaining.

Snatched from Karyn at Vexed:

What romantic heroine are you?

You are Arwen from Lord of the Rings. You are kind and brave, to choose mortal life with the one you love over immortality without him.
Take this quiz!








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Time for MeMe

Ripped from Karyn at Vexed: THIRTY NINE!


Thirty Nine Things About Yourself

[one] what is your natural hair color?
Dark Brown

[two] where is your default picture taken?
In the living room

[three] what's your middle name?
I was not given one at birth so my maiden name became my middle name when I got married

[four] your current relationship status?
Happily married...very happily for over 12 years, in fact!

[five] does your crush like you back?
What crush?

[six] what is your current mood?
Mixed emotions - generally happy about most stuff with a smattering of unease about a few issues. What can I say....I'm complex.

[seven] what color underwear are you wearing?
boring white...

[eight] what makes you happy?
Lots of things - but mostly the loves of my life (Rick and the girls)

where is number [nine]?

[ten] if you could go back in time and change something, what would you change?
Nothing really comes to mind...

[eleven] if you must be an animal for one day, what would you be?
Ummm.....a bird, I guess. Or maybe a dolphin...

[twelve] ever had a near death experience?
No.

[thirteen] something you do a lot?
"Play" on the computer :-)

[fourteen] the song stuck in your head?
None at the moment. Thankfully. Usually I have some annoying kids song stuck in my head!

[fifteen] who did you copy and paste this from?
Karyn

[sixteen] name someone with the same birthday as you?
Scott Hamilton, LeAnn Rimes, Emma Samms, Donald O'Connor, Leo Tolstoy

[seventeen] when was the last time you cried?
June 2nd - during an argument with my brother who was being an asshat

[eighteen] have you ever sung in front of a large audience?
Absolutely not...

[nineteen] if you could have one super power what would it be?
I think it would be cool to have some kind of magic healing powers - think "Lucy" from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and her bottle of magic potion!

[twenty] what's the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
Smile, eyes

[twenty-one] what do you usually order from starbucks?
I prefer "plain jane" coffee with cream, no sugar. I don't "do" Starbucks. (Truth be known, their menu intimidates me.)

[twenty two] what is your biggest secret?
I have a secret? If I did have some big ole stinkin' secret, why should I put it out there for all to see?

[twenty-three] favorite colors?
blue and green

[twenty-four] when was the last time you lied?
I don't know. I don't think I've had to lie about anything in a long time (unless we are counting the little white lies that are social norms like telling a grocery clerk you are "fine" when you really aren't...)

[twenty-five] do you still watch kiddy movies or tv shows?
Ummm...yes. I do have young children after all. But, Rick and I decided to check out "Over the Hedge" just last night...ya know...to make sure it was okay for the kids to watch...ahem.

[twenty-six] what are you eating or drinking at the moment?
Oatmeal with apples, strawberries (fresh-picked from the local farm! YUM!), coffee with fat-free half-n-half

[twenty-seven] do you speak any other language?
Danish - but my vocab is very rusty. I sooo wish I had someone to converse with regularly so I could work on my vocab and general Danish language skills....

[twenty-eight] what's your favorite scent?
the ocean (well, not at low tide...), lavender, coffee, cinnamon, fresh basil
sorry - couldn't limit that list to just one...

[twenty-nine] if you could describe your life in one word what would it be?
blessed

[thirty] when was the last time you gave/received a hug?
early this morning

[thirty-one] have you ever kissed in the rain?
Nope. Can't say that I have. Perhaps I should give it a try one of these days...

[thirty-two] what are you thinking about right now?
That I really should get showered and dressed and ready for the day...

[thirty-three] what should you be doing?
See above...

[thirty-four] what was the last thing that made you upset/angry?
I'm with Karyn on this one: Asshattery (see #17)

[thirty-five] how often do you pray?
Everyday "informally" and I do go to church most Sundays

[thirty-six] do you like working in the yard?
Not particularly. I'm not much of a green thumb, but I do like the proceeds from the garden that Rick started this year and I try to help out with watering and the like...

[thirty-seven] if you could have any last name in the world, what would you want?
What's that saying about "a rose by any other name"....LOL I find this an odd question. Perhaps if I had a 'crush' I'd have an answer?

[thirty-eight] do you act differently around your crush?
See? There it is again! I don't have a crush...so I guess I just act like my normal, old self no matter what...

[thirty-nine] name one song that reminds you of an ex?
Ummm...not only do I not have a 'crush'....I also do not have an 'ex'! I married my first love! But to give some sort of answer I think of my love when I hear "Tall Cool One" by Robert Plant. ;-)

And in keeping with Karyn at Vexed I will give you the opportunity to ask a question that can take the place of the Missing Number Nine...

Anyone? Anyone? ........... Buehler?

Survived the weekend...

And to be brief I will just say it ended up being quite successful! Phew. It's over...

Now, we just need to start prepping and planning for mom and dad's 50th (AAAARRRRGGGHHH!) which is coming up in October. (Whine, moan, bitch, complain....I'll spare you the details and leave it at that).

Just one quick picture to share from the weekend. I hope to share more later but I just had to post this one comparison picture. Rick went around taking a bunch of candids during the festivities (for which I am enternally grateful to him - he did a great job!). I came upon this one picture he snapped of me and I had one thought....

"Separated at birth? Or the son I never knew I had?"



OK. So, am I totally off base there? I am going in for a LONG overdue eye exam some point soon (need to reschedule an appointment that had to be cancelled due to a "tick extraction emergency") and I think I may be going for a new look with the spectacles...

I Do in Fact Feel Blessed/Lucky in This Life of Mine

But, I certainly hope I am not the kind who is obnoxious about it...

You are The Wheel of Fortune

Good fortune and happiness but sometimes a species of
intoxication with success

The Wheel of Fortune is all about big things, luck, change, fortune. Almost always good fortune. You are lucky in all things that you do and happy with the things that come to you. Be careful that success does not go to your head however. Sometimes luck can change.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Another Fun Quiz...and I got a 100!

Thanks go to Vexed for finding this one!

Dude! You're 100% from Massachusetts!

Dude! Me and Sully and Fitzie and Sean are gonna hit Landsdowne tonight after the game, hang out at the Beerworks. I'll pick you up at the Coop at 6.

How Massachusetts are you?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Maybe I'm not so stupid after all...

StupidTester.com says I'm 8% Stupid! How stupid are you? Click Here!">

Some days I really do feel like the last nearly 8 years of being pregnant and/or nursing has really sucked a lot of brain cells out of me. All that effort to grow a new person (times 3) and then nourish them - they were exclusively breastfed for the first 5-6 months of life - and let's not even mention the whole life-sapping sleep deprivation that goes along with it. But, of course, they are worth it. And I truly hope that whatever life/brains/smarts they drained out of me went directly into their own "smart bank" so they can become brilliant in whatever they choose to be in this life. But, according to that scientific test that I took online I still have a few functional brain cells left and they actually work pretty well for me. Good to know.

Now, I just hope they are still there and still working when I take that big leap back into the workforce. After such a long hiatus it's a scary proposition to think about.

And speaking of work, I need to embark in some serious home study edumacation so I can keep my standing as a licensed professional. The whole PDP (professional development points) and CEU (continuing education units) thing has me completely annoyed, but at the same time I do understand the value of the requirement. There does need to be continued learning and education at all levels of one's profession - but my main gripe is the cost. Here I am not working for the time being, but needing to maintain certification - and the cost can be quite prohibitive! Luckily, there are plenty of home study courses available because if I had to travel to take all my courses I'd have to also factor in travel, food and lodging expenses (not to mention figuring out the child care situation). But, even the home study courses can be expensive. If I am lucky I can find courses that run about $15/unit but most of the courses that I'd actually be really interested in taking end up costing way more than I can afford (up to as much as $50/unit). So, a typical course that is about 6 units would cost as much as $300 and I need at least 10 units/year for my state licensure (and let's not even talk about the hundreds I spend to maintain my level of licensure and certification while I'm on hiatus...ugh). My certifications require even more that that (but they can overlap with the licensing requirements). Due to insane prices, I end up not doing the ones that I really would like to take and instead opt for something more affordable, yet not really all that interesting. Sad, isn't it?

Right now, I have a book staring me in the face. I need to read it and then go online and take a test. The book is about ADHD and associated disorders. Something I really do need to learn more about but something not hugely a 'passion' for me so I am finding it hard to get motivated to start the book (which is essentially a moderately thick text book - read: dry and unappealing to snuggle up in bed with at night). I'm tempted to go online and take the test to see how well I do without even reading the book, but then I'd feel guilty for not reading the book. So, I just need to buckle down and do it. Oh, and this particular book/test was a pretty decent dealio as far as cost per unit goes. The company that is offering this home study course allows you to buy the book and test from them or just the test. I found a copy of the book used online and paid about $6 for it instead of the retail price of about $60. The test itself costs $59 and so for a total of $65 I'll be getting eight home study credits out of the ten that I need for the year. That works out to be approximately $8 per unit - by far the cheapest I've ever seen. But, still, having to fork out $65 (and eventually more get the additional credits for the year) is not helping the budget right about now.

I have to keep my eye on the prize, though, and realize that I will reap the rewards later when I do go back to work. It's just hard to see the forest for the trees sometimes and to think of it as an investment in the future when the checkbook is currently on the lean side.

Virtual Cocktail Party

Ok, so I went over to Vexed in the City this morning and got tagged with this Virtual Cocktail Party meme. I'm supposed to find five (bloggable) things that you might not know about little ole me. And, as usual, consider yourself tagged in kind if you are reading this!

1. This may come as no great surprise if you know me at all, but you may not be privy to the fact that I have never, ever smoked a single cigarette. Not even a puff. I was once tempted to try one at a party when I was living in Denmark, but I didn't follow through.

2. Something that may or may not be common knowledge for most of you (Rick doesn't count because there is not much, if anything, that he doesn't know about me!) - beer and chocolate don't mix for me. I don't like the taste of them together, obviously, but if I eat/drink them in the same time frame (of probably a few hours) I puke my guts out.

3. I am a published translator. A few years out of college I translated two short stories from Danish to English for a collection of short stories. I have a few copies stored away in a box somewhere... The author of one of the short stories liked my translation so much she sent me a book she wrote in the hopes that I would enjoy it and translate it. I never got around to reading it and now it would be very hard given my decreased Danish language skills! Anyway, my short stories appeared in the March 1995 issue of the Review of Contemporary Fiction (under my maiden name Griffin).

....ummmmmm more later. I've come back to this post a few times and still can't think of anything to say...

Ok, I thought of a couple more while I was getting my upper body workout done for today...

4. I once auditioned for "Community Auditions" (Talent Show on Channel 56? in Boston). I was, I think, in 8th grade, and it was a actually with my friend Katie - we played a HORRIBLE flute duet. Why we ever thought we could get on the show is beyond me but I remember it being a long day of waiting in line with butterflies in my stomach. Such fun! ;-)

"Star of the Day
Who will it be?
Your vote may hold the key!
It's up to you!
So tell us who!
Will be...Star of the Day!"

5. I have come close to failing only one class ever in my life. My freshman year I took Microeconomics in the hopes of eventually becoming a business major (don't laugh). It was in a classroom dubbed "the cave" by many students - a huge 500-seat lecture hall (but many of the seats were broken so I think the classes held there were on the order of 250-300 students) with poor acoustics and even worse lighting. It was easy to fall asleep during that lecture and I had a foreign teaching assistant who was impossible to understand and who seemed to understand our questions even less. I can recall sitting in the lecture hall during the midterm and later the final and sweating profusely with tears in my eyes because I felt like I was trying to decipher a foreign language. I honestly had NO idea what the hell the questions were asking me to do. It was a scary moment for me - I thought about how disappointed my dad would be (he encouraged the business major thing and I was all for it at that point because I had this fantasy of living in Denmark and doing some kind of job in international business....didn't I just tell you not to laugh!?...of course dad had hopes that I would come back home and work for the family business...) and the thought of actually FAILING a class was unfathomable! I was not exactly an "A" student throughout high school but I got by just fine with mostly Bs, a few As and, if I recall, a couple of Cs thrown in for good measure. I remember being home over January break and being very moody and cross and having my mom ask me what was wrong and I broke down in tears and screamed that I "FUCKING FAILED MICROECONOMICS!" Yep...I think that was the first time my mom heard me swear! Turns out I did better than at least a few of the other students in the class because by some miracle I got my report card in the mail and I was blessed with a CD. Still not a grade to be proud of, but I did not lose all credit for the class. I did, however, change my status from "business major wanna-be" to simply "undeclared" and it was not until late in my sophomore year that I decided to major in Linguistics with a concentration in Anthropology.

Ok, so some of you probably already knew some of this stuff, but it was the best I could come up with!

Cool Stuff

Just a few things that have happened recently that I think are pretty neat (however, you may beg to differ...).

#1 - E has begun to communicate quite effectively using 'baby signs'. It makes life so much easier now that she can tell us some basic wants/needs. She has signs for "all done", "eat", "milk", "more", "tired/night-night" and she now consistently waves hi/bye. Exciting stuff - well, at least for me it is. I'm her mom AND I'm a self-professed speech-geek so anything remotely related to human communication is fascinating to me! I have used sign language with all three of my girls with great success. It is an awesome way to communicate with a baby before they are ready/able to form words. Hand gestures are much easier than all those complicated tongue and mouth movements and it gets the point across quite clearly once they understand that the sign has a meaning attached to it. E's receptive language (understanding what we say to her) is great but she has yet to form that true "first word" so in the meantime we are using the sign language and it reduces frustrations all around! E is a bit later than the other two at her willingness to use the signs, but in the last week or so it really clicked for her and now there is no stopping her!

#2 - R got a ton of craft-related projects for Christmas and was thrilled to get each and every one. But, the most exciting thing for me was giving her the Learn to Knit kit! I was excited to share my love of knitting with her. This past fall she kept asking about learning to knit and I knew that I was getting her the kit so I held off and told her that things were busy but once the holidays were over I teach her. So, on New Year's Day we sat on the couch with her new yarn and wooden knitting needles and I showed her the basic knit stitch. I was not actually expecting her to be able to knit after only one session - but, I'll be damned! She picked it up so quickly and now knows EXACTLY what needs to be done. All she needs to do is work on her "form" and she'll be pounding out some scarves in no time flat! Last night before bed I sat with her again and she knitted two more rows on the swatch that we started on Monday. She did 90% of the work on those two rows and the second row came off much faster than the first. She is thrilled with herself and her progress and I'm bustin' with pride for my little crafty girl!

Here's what she's accomplished so far:



And since I'm sharing cool knitting-related stuff - here's a pic of a little gift I bought myself recently:



I ordered some yarn from Knit Picks recently (good yarn - cheap!) and found this organizational bag on their site. My knitting bag was a MESS so I figured this would come in handy. I always had a hard time finding scissors and other small objects that ended up at the bottom of the bag but now I am super-organized and can find what I need in a flash! YAY for me! The yarn in the top is the start of my latest project - a baby blanket with a fairly complex (but very pretty!) diamond pattern. It's actually been a bit troublesome to work out what the heck I'm supposed to be doing and I had to create a freakin' SPREADSHEET to keep track, but so far it's working and it's a sadistically fun challenge. I just can't TALK when I am working on this blanket so it probably won't be my "travel/on the town" project. I'll reserve my simple sock projects for those occasions!

#3 Rick and I have a date night scheduled for tomorrow night! WOOHOO! My in-laws (bless them!) are going to babysit for us. They will feed them dinner and bring them back here and put them to bed for us. We were unsure what we wanted to do for our date night...and then I was sent a sign....

Which brings me to the next neat-o torpedo thing....

#4 I won ANOTHER movie ticket from Blingo (if you don't know what Blingo is be sure to email me and I send you an invite so you, too, can win free stuff!). I *heart* Blingo. I think I've won at least 4 movie tickets from them since I signed up. I had won a ticket (that I had forgotten all about until last night) back in November. Then last night while I was surfing for information on the web (for R's upcoming birthday party) I won ANOTHER movie ticket. So, I told Rick that since we now had two free movie tickets that it must be a sign that we should do a traditional Dinner-and-a-Movie date! At this point I'm thinking it's a toss-up between "Night at the Museum" and "Pursuit of Happyness" - I guess it depends on whether we want to see a somber and probably depressing movie that HOPEFULLY has a uplifting ending or whether we want to just laugh our butts off for nearly two hours. Probably the latter would be advised for a date night, huh? I have heard great things about both movies, so we'll see what Rick feels like seeing... Dinner is another question that is up in the air and is to be determined later.

So, that's my recent list of cool stuff. Off to the museum for story time! Catch ya later!

I only THOUGHT I had no accent...

What American accent do you have? Your Result: Boston You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine.
The West
The Midland
North Central
Philadelphia
The Northeast
The Inland North
The South
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Just for fun

On one of the mommy boards I frequent (this one is for moms with babies born in October 2005) the moms are posting pics of their babies sibling at approximately the same age. I thought it would be fun to post a few pics of the girls at about 1 year of age to see how much (or how little) they resemble each other. And it will allow me to join in on the picture posting frenzy on that site -- you see, I don't have the "premium" membership so I can't upload pictures into my posts but if I post them here I can send the ladies over there a link! Premium-schmemium. Heh.

In order of birth: R, A, E




Hmmmm....thoughts?