Thank you notes

Someone in blog-land posted about writing thank you notes and I thought I'd comment on it. Yes, writing thank you notes is just as important now as it ever was, but all those that either weren't taught about it, or were forced to do it (and like all things, got pissed about it and say that they won't make their kids do ANYTHING their parents forced them to do) --it just seems like common sense, common courtesy, and politeness has gone by the wayside. People just have ignored the wisdom of generations and cut out decency in favor of working more, or what, I dont' know. I guess I actually THINK about the kind of rules I grew up with and what I was supposed to do, and what those rules mean for myself and other people, and I can't think of one right now that has or would steer a kid wrong. Back to thank you notes: I don't even require a handwritten and mailed one. A quick email to say thanks is good enough. How do I know if anyone gets a present I send them if they don't say something? That kind of thing drives me insane. And it is good practice for kids writing thank you notes for references, for job interviews, and just good practice in general for how to be truly thankful for something. All those with kids under K age, you could either do it yourself, or have your kid draw a picture on the inside of the thank you card and you write their name. Use your imagination. Teach your kids to be truly thankful for what they have, teach them to go out of their way to thank those that do for you. If one of us does it, if all of us does it, then maybe the next generation and the next will be a little more concerned for their fellow humans. Crime rate going up, no one can discuss anything civilly, everything is you vs. me, i am right you are wrong, sheesh! Let's take the focus off who has wronged us and teach our kids to do the right thing!

Harry Potter

Next week we're going to the opening midnight showing of the HP5 movie! Yeah! so exciting.

Geocaching

Last weekend we went Geocaching, well, we went with someone who was hiding one. For those of you not familiar with the "sport"--if you could call it that, and from my limited knowledge, it basically goes like this: There's a website that you log in to if you hide or find a geocache. If you hide it, you put in the gps coordinates of your location (accurate to within 4o feet) on the website of the little plastic container that holds a little item with a number on it and some pencils. If you find it, you write down the number and go back to the website and enter it in. I have no idea what the point is other than a more adult version of hide and go seek. However, we did get to bump down some pretty crazy "maintenance only B" roads in Iowa and use the 4WD in the Bronco. My hair was fuller of dirt than it has been since I was a tiny girl. And the funny thing is, my husband had the opportunity to go without me, get some guy time, and he invited me along. I don't know what to think of that. I appreciate being included, but I worry that with just working all the time and then spending the whole weekends with me that he'll get tired of it. I love him so much, and I want us to both have our independence without alienating each other. I probably do depend on him for too much, so I want him to feel free to have the guy time without me and provide some balance for both of us.

Butt onions

Okay, so the title of this blog is a little odd, you may have clicked here on accident looking for a recipe or new flavor of toilet paper, but i digress. Today the Chicago Cubs played the Washington Nationals. Well, to me, from a long distance on camera, the NATIONALS split across the buttons on the chest, a man moving from base to base looks like he has "butt onions" on it instead. Just another little note from the weird but interesting mind of me.

Summertime

Everyone else seems to be writing about childhood memories of summer, so here goes:

We had no air conditioning, I spent a lot of time going "ahhh" in front of the fan to hear my voice sound funny. Early in the morning when it wasn't too hot we'd sit on the porch and listen to the birds, look out over the fields and smell the hay. I also spent a lot of time running in and out of doors getting popsicles from the huge freezer in the basement. I thanked my mother a few years ago for never scolding me, no matter how many popsicles I ate. We also got to go shopping at Aldi with mom all those summers back, and we got to pick out, oh probably 12 cans of soda and that lasted 12 days, 14 if we were really holding back. I usually got 4 of each, cola, root beer, orange (whistle) and lemon lime. Nothing tasted as sweet as those cans of soda hoarded in the crisper in the late afternoon. I always watched Days of Our Lives with mom while she folded laundry during the only break she seemed to take each day. I hopped around ran and sang, visited the horses, talked to the cats, the dogs, everything that seemed to be moving about. Sometimes I helped in the garden, but mostly I just grabbed a few strawberries and kept running. Occasionally we got to run through the sprinkler, but I remember more "sorry it hasn't rained and we don't have enough water" than sure, go ahead. There wasn't much on tv til late afternoon and then I'd hop up every commercial and sometimes miss half the show because I'd wandered outside. After dinner when the sun was going down, I'd often ride the horse, talking to her like she was human, chasing flies off her back. If we were lucky, there would be popcorn and a 16 oz glass bottle of REAL Pepsi split three ways. I could stay up a little later because I didnt' have school, but usually I was tired enough to go to bed pretty early. By the time I was old enough to have friends with cars, we'd spend a lot of time driving around the neighboring towns square, cause even if the boys weren't cuter, they didnt know us either. I ate a lot of taffy and drank a lot of soda. We dreaded the end of summer, but couldnt wait for SOMETHING else to do. We also had the county fair and sometimes state fair to attend. Between Jr High and High School on Saturday mornings I trained pups up at the fairgrounds and at show time the dogs always got a vanilla ice cream cone passed through the sliding glass of the old F150. I also hid in my room reading books again and again, daydreaming and wishing that summer would never end.

Sneaky Birdseed Thief

This little critter shimmied up the new bird feeder pole and ate about half of it today. He came back several times, shimmied up and shimmied down. We now need to invest in something to keep the critter out of it, and a squirrel feeder.

I get to be in the paper..not in the criminal arrest section

I replied to the Cedar Rapids Gazette
request for Harry Potter Fans to discuss their thoughts about the movie and books. Here is the email I sent. Then they emailed back and wanted an interview. Cool. So I called back and gave my interview. It should be in the CRG on July 12 and 15. Neat-o.

How do the movies compare to the books?--For all the films that have been released to date, they do an adequate job of giving the storyline to the novel, but as with all movies based on books, they tend to skim over the surface and add in a few details for feature film. This gives loyal readers a satisfaction in immersing into the life of Harry Potter a little deeper and more colorful than our imaginations, and gives young and unintroduced future readers a glimpse that may well tease them into exploring the books. There is a noted lack of depth in characters compared to the books, but that is to be expected for the length of the film compared to the length of the books. Basic characterization, sets, and design are all top notch and rich in detail. Most true Potter fans would agree that WB is doing the best that they can under the circumstances. All in all, the books win hands down, but the films do justice for publicity of the books and for the economy.

What do you think of the cultural legacy author J.K. Rowling has left behind?--She has done an amazing job of taking a basic story line (good vs. evil) and weaving a depth of character and humor, finite details and magical connections into an amazing tale of adventure, loss, and yes, love. Like all great authors, she draws us in, the young and old, the experienced and the fresh eyes devouring a chapter book for the first time. Her legacy will spawn book sales and unbridled imagination for generations to come. Book sets will be passed down and read at bedtime again and again, whether it's the parent or child begging to continue for "just one more chapter." People of all ages have come together for book clubs, midnight releases, and the sharing of theories, somewhat uncommon in this age of technology that changes so fast every day. Her legacy will be of a generation, make that multiple generations of readers that value a good story, the good winning over evil, the light beating back the darkness, and at the end, a certain satisfaction, no matter what is to come. Long after the fanfare of the movie releases has died down, the action figures and toy sets quit gracing the shelves of the local toy stores, children will snuggle in, forget that the computer exists, and read until it gets dark, turn on the light and go on until they're eyes are blurry, not just the 7 in this series, but many more adventures. Her legacy is a dream: a world of children who read for fun, know the difference in right and wrong, and giggle when they see mistletoe, because it may well be full of nargles.