Facebook Steroids

I am a self-admitted Facebook addict.  I'm not proud of it, but there you go.  It's kind of hard not to be when you're a writer, as it's a prime opportunity for a poke into the human psyche.  After all, what people choose to post speaks volumes.  

The biggest setback, for me me anyway, is that I struggle with short posts.  I even struggle with short responses.  Therefore, often I say nothing at all.

Today, I am going to write extensive responses to things that come up in my Facebook newsfeed.  I'm thinking that might be some great fodder for conversation ;-)

From my Facebook Newsfeed (sic)

* "Unbelievable.  In this day and age, I was just told I could NOT use special characters in a password.  Fortunately, I don't think there's anything financial on this site."

My personal theory is that some special characters are not readily available on all sites and in all countries (I just found out from Emily that France has a different keyboard than we in the U.S. do.  I guess that makes sense, but it never would have occurred to me on my own until she was complaining about getting used to the American keyboard again.  Anyway, maybe people are doubling up on special character combos (I suppose it's possible that 400 people might put C===3 as a password ;-)) Anyway, good luck.  My passwords are centered around kids, pets, and the number 69.  I am weird.

* Decided this morning I would get serious about losing 10 pounds.  Got to work and was told it was Outdoor Living Safety Day (lots of free, grilled food).  Went outside and got two breakfast burritos consisting almost entirely of delicious, grilled meats.  Off to a great start!

Oh, you know what they say about Murphy's Law, about spitting in the devil's face, and blah blah blah.  First, you are very lucky that you only have ten pounds to get serious about.  I have about 50 more than that, if it gives you any perspective.  It's one day, so hopefully you enjoyed your meaty breakfast burritos (which sound delicious, by the way) and can move forward from here.  I'm more interested in Outdoor Living Safety Day ... I've never heard of it.  Is it just about grilling?  Can you make dandelion wine?  Is the impending rain going to move it indoors (LOL)? Good luck with your ten pounds, and don't beat yourself up too much ... I recommend the MapMyWalk app, by the way; you could conceivably exercise off the calories you took in with your burritos, if you really wanted to.  I wouldn't, though; at this point, I'd just eat a Twinkie and start again tomorrow ;-)

* I want to go back to bed so I don't have to think.

Going back to bed is the worst thing you can do.  It is, however, only a temporary solution (take it from someone who spent a lot of time hiding in bed). I would recommend a walk.  I discovered the joys of walking about a month ago, when I was at something of a rock botttom.  It really clears your mind, and if you walk in different places (nature trails, main roads, the mall), you'll never get bored.  Just don't walk on highways as I'm pretty sure that's illegal.  Beyond that, call or text a friend.  Find a place to watch a movie (I'd recommend a tears-inducing chick flick or a comedy) and eat a bunch of popcorn and talk when you can.  I know you have people in your life that have more to offer than your bed, even if it's just to keep you from thinking.  The person writing this is even one of them :-)

*WHEN are people going to stop sharing Facebook posts that are based on nothing but somebody's desire to rile up all of America's dumbest citizens?  Learn to fact check.

Do you really need me to tell you that the answer is "NEVER"?  Powerful people love the ignorant, largely because they are such a good, loud voice. I know a lot of really good people that have been misinformed about things by people in positions of power and trust.  I don't argue with them, but I shake my head at their ignorance.  Oh, and recently I wrote a blog post about it where I state that homosexuality is neither evil nor a choice, that abortion should be a choice (but not to be used as birth control), and that vaccines do not cause autism, all of which are well-supported stances.  Put another way, I was once married to a statistician.  He told me that, if you ask enough color-blind people, you can statistically prove that the color red does not exist.  So, yes, learn to fact check.  You didn't need my rambling, you got your point across very well <3 br="">

* Stomach is still killing, follow-up with doctor tomorrow.  They said it's stomach flu but from all this stomach pain to the point of can't walk it has to be something else.

The lion's share of my medical issues have been gastrointestinal in nature.  I am currently being worked up for something called Primary Biliary Cirrhosis, which is scary as hell, in addition to my other gastro issues.  They tell me that, my new gastro confesses that my records from Maine Medical Center showed some pretty hard core stuff, and then I go to schedule this test where they are running dye through my bile ducts ... and the soonest they can do it is mid-June.  What the hell, right?  My advice for you is to go to the ER.  They will draw labs then and there and can give you IV pain meds.  Doctors, particularly gastros, are very careful about giving out pain meds for obvious reasons.  I was actually pissed that  my new gastro didn't give me some narcotics at our initial meeting, but my sister and mother helped me understand why that was.  If I was in unspeakable agony right now and walked into the ER, I know that they would a) do blood tests b) see that one of my liver enzymes is elevated off the chart c) give me pain meds and d) direct me to set up an appointment with my gastro.  Hmmmm, now that I think about it, maybe that way I could get that specialized test done before mid-freaking-June.  I hope you feel better soon <3 div="" nbsp="">

Response to my Facebook post about this post collected as I'm writing (above, which reads, "Today I'm going to write extensive responses to things that come up in my Facebook newsfeed for my blog.  I'm thinking they might be some great fodder for conversation.") (sic)

* "Well, I'm glad you're productive, I just read the same paragraph three times in my 'essentials for nursing research' (yawn) book ..... ugh

I'm really not productive at all.  One of my personal goals is to write every day, and I couldn't think of a darn thing to write about, so I'm stealing ideas from other people.  I wish that I had the skill set to become a nurse, but I can imagine that your reading is pretty dry ... Let's face it, any book that starts with 'essentials for' anything just sort of screams, "I'll solve your insomnia problem!"  Good luck!  Take a nap and walk around the block ... that might help you wake up a bit.  It won't make the book any more interesting, though.

A Changing Definition of "Fun"

My friend Jessie has a name for the period of time when you first start dating someone and everything is just flowers and light and smiles and so on--"The Hearts and Bunnies Phase".

It sounds contrived, but it's true.  

And no one in the world wants to hear the details of how dizzily happy you are, that what you've always dreamed of seems to be happening, that you're walking around floating on air because life feels so very good.

Which is why I haven't been blogging much lately.

The fact that Henry, who is also an English teacher, lent me his Edgar Allan Poe action figure to share with my students after finding out that we were reading "The Cask of Amontillado" melted my heart, but I'm sure it sounds just lame to other people.  

He made a playlist of songs that reminded him of me, burned them onto a CD, and I listen to it all the time.

As Pythagorus became increasingly unbalanced and emotionally abusive the past few weeks (before disappearing entirely for days at a time more than once), Henry has been incredibly supportive, offering not advice or anger but love, logic, and laughter (after Pythagorus left a couple of disjointed, rambling voice mails that concluded with him giving his full name and phone number, Henry opined that Pythagorus is freaking out because he can't control and bully me anymore ... and stated, "You've got his number ... literally").

It's a very new feeling to be around someone unfailingly positive, constantly kind, and ridiculously funny ... but also trustworthy.  I never thought I'd be able to fully believe in anyone again, but being with Henry is making me rethink a lot of things.

Including the parameters of what a really fun time is.    

Last week, Belle and I went with Henry to his friend/co-worker's house.  Joanna is also an English teacher, so it was a gathering of the minds ;-)  Anyway, we brought pizza, soda, and Rock Band ... and that was it.

I enjoyed Joanna and her husband from the start, and we had an absolute ball playing Rock Band with the kids and such (they have two kids, one almost exactly Belle's age and one a few years older).

After the excitement of Rock Band wore off, the little ones moved on to board games, hide and seek, and dressing up in Halloween costumes, and the adults went and sat out on the porch, talking and laughing (drinking root beer and Diet Coke, I might add ... it was noted more than once how odd it seemed to be dissolving in laughter so often without drinking alcohol).

It was pretty late when we left, so Belle and I slept in Henry's guest bedroom (and she slept in until 8:00, which I still cannot believe).  Belle had a birthday party to attend, but Henry made pancakes for her (and an omelet for me ... yum!) before we left.  He also put coffee into a travel mug for me, but I forgot it at his house in my rush to get Belle to her party on time.

Cue the following text exchange.

HENRY: You forgot your coffee, you goofball :-(

ME: Oh, shit, I did :-(  And after hogging the cream, too...lol

HENRY: Don't worry, I won't let it go to waste.

***a number of texts came and went***

HENRY: Hmmm, the coffee tastes off.  I think I need to clean the maker.  You're not missing out after all.

ME: Haha, that's a relief :-)  It's almost ten, and I haven't had coffee...perhaps a first since college.

HENRY: Lol, oh my!

And the past week, it just keeps coming.  Everything is beautiful, and I want to sing and dance and hug the sky and such.

Henry met my brother and his family last night when we all went to the beach house for dinner.  It was wonderful.  The dinner party concluded, in fact, with Henry and Adam fixing the beach house toilet (while this was transpiring, my sister-in-law kept saying how great Henry is and how close he and Belle are ... it made me feel so good).

And so as I'm finding happiness (some might say "sappiness" :-)) and, yes, joy in pretty much everything right now, I'm also aware of the nuanced changes in the definition of "fun" as I understand it.

I feel an amazing connection to Henry, in every possible way.  He's an incredible man, and I still find myself shaking my head in disbelief to know that he really wants to be with me.  Sometimes I doubt that, but those moments are lessening, that fear of him disappearing dissipating as we seem to grow closer and more dizzily drawn to each other than we did when we'd just started dating.

There is fun everywhere ... if you are willing to see it, to appreciate it, to let it come.  

Home from Skiing (And You'd Better Believe There are Videos!)

We just got back from skiing. I have to wake up at 5:30 to go back to work. Yeah, I think we'll let the videos speak for themselves (pretty much : )). Oh, and I sound like a LOSER on video ... I never realized that before.

Before we left ... we have Andy being disgusting (actually, the video was shot just after he was being disgusting)



And we have a bunch of kids VERY excited at the prospect of going skiing : )



And then the skiing begins ... Here are the little kids in their lesson.



And then, of course, there was our attempt to get the big girls getting off the bunny slope and onto some real trails with their snowboards. Epic fail, as Addie would say (but that's a story for another day).



And there are a hundred other cute kid videos (and even one of me videotaping while skiing, which is kind of cool), but I sound beyond ridiculous and I fall, so let's end with Andy being disgusting, just for consistency. (Disclaimer: all six kids were in a lesson when we imbibed the beverage depicted in this video).



So there's no philosophical insight on this one ... unless you count a great day of fun a philosophy of a sort. Yeah, I pretty much do :)

Me, Myself, and I: Get to Know Yourself Better (or Something :-))

I have been tagged, thank you Novelista Barista

Here are the rules…

1. Respond and rework: answer the following questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.
2. Tag other un-tagged people.

The Questions:

1. What is your current obsession?
My current obsession is blogging. Writing has been a lifelong obsession for me, naturally, but the connections made with other people actually getting something out of your work ... or even just what you have to say ... mind-bloggling, man (see, you knew that one would come out sooner or later ;))

2. Who was the last person you hugged?
My daughter Addie. She's fourteen, so this was a rare treat. I did, of course, have to ruin the moment by refusing to tango with her down the hallway ... sigh :)

3. What’s my favorite dinner? Lobster.

4. What is the worst "classic" book you've ever read?
Ulysses by James Joyce. Is it me, or was that book so far over the typical reader's head that it was orbiting the moon?

5. What are you listening to right now?
Nothing. Everyone in my house is asleep. It's kind of nice, actually : )

6. What is your favorite weather?
Fall is my favorite time of year. I deplore the summer (being sweaty and uncomfortable makes me horrifically grouchy), spring just reminds me that summer's coming, and winter ... well, I like winter,too, actually, although sometimes it's a bit intense here in New England.

7. What is your least favorite season?
Summer, natch. Geez, if I wasn't so long-winded with my answers, I probably wouldn't repeat myself!

8. What’s in your purse?
Wallet, pen, gum, iPod, Blackberry, Belle's engineer hat (don't ask)

9. Say something to the person/s who tagged you (Novelista Barista): Cool blog : )

10. What is your favorite dessert or cool treat?
Apple pie, but only if it's really well-made (my mother's apple pie, for example, is much better than that which you'd get at a grocery store)

11. What did you want to become as a child?
A writer, a lawyer, an actor, anything but a teacher (strange how that works out, isn't it?)

12. What do you miss?
You!

13. What’s your favorite brand of jeans?
Old Navy jeans work for me. I know I'm probably going down in fashion estimation, but for some reason they're comfortable and fit right.

14. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
I'd go on an ocean cruise. I'd spend every minute in or on the ocean if I could.

15. Who do you want to meet in person?
Stephen King.

16. What are your most challenging goals right now?
Oh, man, I wish I hadn't changed an earlier question! Trying to get my life back together ... there, I think that's vague enough.

17. What’s your 5 year plan?
Publishing. Teaching. Raising my children. Going on cool vacations. Reading a lot of great books.

18. Why is today special?
Because one of my students came over to me while I was grading papers this morning (I never grade papers in the morning--I hang out with my students before the day gets going ... this morning, after a night without sleep spent mostly crying, though, I was grading papers) with a crumpled up piece of paper and said, "If I make this shot, Mrs. L, you need to cheer up!" He then walked over to the trash can and dropped the paper in. It made me laugh and truly brightened my mood : )

19. What is my favorite sport to watch?
I like to watch any sporting event my students are involved in. I also LOVE the Red Sox.

20. Describe your perfect day:
Spending the day on the beach with my daughters, reading and writing while they played and occasionally going for a swim in the ocean.

21. What TV show would you want to be a cast member on (reality included)?
Why, "NCIS", of course : )

22. Are you a lover or a fighter?
I'm a lover.

Okay, so it's your turn ... I'm a little fuzzy on the "tagging" concept, so please feel free to do this if you read it (it's actually sort of fun :-)), and comment me the link so I can check it out.

Hope all is well with everybody : ) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reason #486 that I Love My Job

On Friday, my Advisory (sort of like an extended homeroom with a focus on teambuilding) challenged another Advisory to a Dodge Ball tournament. We won (I have a very athletically blessed Advisory), and today we got to dish out a little punishment.

Basically, the losing team was going to suffer a little pie in the face on Monday. Today is Monday. Heh heh heh : )

I brought the whipped cream, one of my students brought plates, and we went into the other Advisory and started setting up who was going to pie whom. The other teacher graciously volunteered to go first (she did cover herself with a trash bag first), and the rest of the class took their pies in the face with minimal complaint.

The one exception was the young man that was throwing at me (and throwing HARD) on Friday. He was my target for the pie in the face, but instead of taking it like his classmates, he went and hid in the bathroom. I'd sort of decided to wait and get him during English class, but he kept poking his head out of the bathroom and yelling, "Bring it on!" then going back and hiding in a place I certainly couldn't go.

The kids in my Advisory went to get him out (well, the boys did), but he barricaded himself in a stall (or so I heard) and refused to come out. Another teacher came over to see what was going on, and he sent a couple of his students, tall and strong basketball players, and they went in and got the young man in question out then carried him into the hallway where an ultimate pie-ing transpired.

It was priceless : ) Being able to teach is amazing enough, but every once in awhile you get to have a really good time beyond that ... this was a great reminder of how much I adore my job and how lucky I am.

Incidentally, the other Advisory has challenged us to a dance-off next Friday. We're prepared for defeat, so figuring out what our punishment next Monday will be is keeping us quite entertained.