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1. <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:blogger='http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509</id><updated>2024-03-12T18:25:12.433-07:00</updated><category term="Life"/><category term="Family"/><category term="Kids"/><category term="Age"/><category term="Friends"/><category term="Oraganization"/><category term="Christmas"/><category term="Marriage"/><category term="Balanced Lifestyle"/><category term="Book"/><category term="Contentment"/><category term="Friendships"/><category term="Growing Older"/><category term="Writing"/><category term="recipes"/><category term="Julie and Julia"/><category term="Love"/><category term="Money"/><category term="Movie Review"/><category term="Movies"/><category term="New Year&#39;s"/><category term="Parenting"/><category term="Persevering"/><category term="Relationships"/><category term="Sanity"/><category term="Savings"/><category term="living life"/><category term="2010"/><category term="Anniversary"/><category term="Appearance"/><category term="Beauty"/><category term="Blogging"/><category term="Book Proposal"/><category term="Borders Bookstore"/><category term="Boulder"/><category term="Charlie Sheen"/><category term="China"/><category term="Cleaning"/><category term="Colorado"/><category term="Discontent"/><category term="ER"/><category term="Eliot Spitzer"/><category term="Etiquette"/><category term="Financial Stress"/><category term="Forgiveness"/><category term="Gaddafi"/><category term="Games"/><category term="Graduation"/><category term="Grateful"/><category term="Harry Potter"/><category term="Heath Ledger"/><category term="Inner Beauty"/><category term="Inspiration"/><category term="John Galliano"/><category term="Liam Neeson"/><category term="Literature"/><category term="Men and Women"/><category term="Meryl Streep"/><category term="Motivation"/><category term="Natasha Richardson"/><category term="New York City"/><category term="Overprotective"/><category term="Perseverance"/><category term="Politics"/><category term="Purging"/><category term="Resolutions"/><category term="Rituals"/><category term="Sandra Bullock"/><category term="Santa"/><category term="Seattle"/><category term="Simplify"/><category term="Survival"/><category term="Television"/><category term="Thankful"/><category term="The Good Wife"/><category term="This I Believe"/><category term="Traditions"/><category term="Travel"/><category term="Trivia"/><category term="Zac Sunderland"/><category term="attitude"/><category term="beach"/><category term="bedtime"/><category term="birth"/><category term="blissful"/><category term="blissfulness"/><category term="body image"/><category term="busy"/><category term="camping"/><category term="climate"/><category term="cold"/><category term="consequences"/><category term="death"/><category term="dogs"/><category term="economics"/><category term="exercise"/><category term="family budget"/><category term="happiness"/><category term="happy"/><category term="morning routine"/><category term="puppies"/><category term="reading"/><category term="recession"/><category term="school"/><category term="snow"/><category term="spending"/><category term="summer"/><category term="vacation"/><category term="weather"/><title type='text'>Let&#39;s Get Real-About Life</title><subtitle type='html'>A discussion on life, the real stuff we experience: parenting, marriage, friendships,kids, work, and well, just life.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default?redirect=false'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default?start-index=26&amp;max-results=25&amp;redirect=false'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>88</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-5518798284947444562</id><published>2012-07-01T21:05:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2012-07-01T21:05:35.651-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Rewards for Good Grades?</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;
2. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCx654hiX0d9X6-fi-5JEs93ffOubv231aHcVSVvD-W-lYwfjKqXrWNhlNvJ9t6CpRQo6iWZqlqBebUUp8hIM_uBjPCFClNUmRjncw-Q9M_FIf0TKqPNlmVOmfNTd72B9HtAv0ZR312eF0/s1600/report_card.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCx654hiX0d9X6-fi-5JEs93ffOubv231aHcVSVvD-W-lYwfjKqXrWNhlNvJ9t6CpRQo6iWZqlqBebUUp8hIM_uBjPCFClNUmRjncw-Q9M_FIf0TKqPNlmVOmfNTd72B9HtAv0ZR312eF0/s320/report_card.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
3. So the end-of-the-year grades came out recently. How did your kids do? Here is
4. the big question: do you reward your kids for good grades and/or do they get a
5. consequence for "poor" grades?<br />
6. <br />
7. One of our children gets good grades all the time and is completely self motivated. (Although, I have to point out, parents can't
8. really determine how well their children are doing on their academics in elementary school with the generic marks of
9. "Basic," "Proficient," or "Advanced" - and they
10. only give out "Advanced" at the end of the year.)<br />
11. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
12. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjg_IPbm5BvzR0EUEYIljOfckfUhTuoMWESd33WVvCkqKZ-arW2h-ZLp-wK4FKgXRT7-QpWkB8c8C72vGVipi5WR0ukNSXApbImDj8ijC5ZTqJDLlPqOlJvemDyxP7K7UCqWx2g595RRu9/s1600/report_card_1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjg_IPbm5BvzR0EUEYIljOfckfUhTuoMWESd33WVvCkqKZ-arW2h-ZLp-wK4FKgXRT7-QpWkB8c8C72vGVipi5WR0ukNSXApbImDj8ijC5ZTqJDLlPqOlJvemDyxP7K7UCqWx2g595RRu9/s200/report_card_1.gif" width="141" /></a></div>
13. Our other child wasn't
14. trying very hard on his school work and so in turn was not earning very high grades (they do receive the traditional grading letters in middle school) -
15. although we knew he had the capabilities of getting great grades. He just
16. wasn't motivated to do his best. We saw what was happening, he didn't care, so
17. we attached a carrot at the end of the string. <br />
18. <br />
19. When my husband was in grade school he wasn't motivated to get good grades
20. either. A grown up in his life told him at the beginning of the year that he
21. would give him a dollar for every "A" that he received on his report
22. card. Back in the day when one was graded on every little thing, and
23. the list of possibilities inspired the young boy. That was the year he worked
24. very hard and this grown-up person was so surprised at the string of As my
25. husband as a young boy received on his report card. The grown up had to fork over $85.00 and my
26. husband took the money, jumped on his bike, rode across town (when kids could
27. ride across town by themselves), and bought himself a motorized helicopter. He
28. will never forget that day and that helicopter was a prize well earned. The
29. next year that grown up wasn't in his life anymore and no one offered up a
30. reward for good grades and the young boy's grades fell and he
31. just wasn't motivated anymore.<br />
32. <br />
33. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
34. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSRRv5D3h5rysvxRZIaL9lZ2EDEB4vOx1d25Vcxq2qgh1CXSAnxys-Pxj5NYft4TVOd0DyCptGpjA0wWw7peQSVSVkjN94MLZG9wVHoc5zFNU5pmVlPQkR18GIKiWbM4OiVzkOYxaL0Q3T/s1600/school-report-cards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSRRv5D3h5rysvxRZIaL9lZ2EDEB4vOx1d25Vcxq2qgh1CXSAnxys-Pxj5NYft4TVOd0DyCptGpjA0wWw7peQSVSVkjN94MLZG9wVHoc5zFNU5pmVlPQkR18GIKiWbM4OiVzkOYxaL0Q3T/s200/school-report-cards.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
35. But then you hear of all those over achievers who tell the story of how their
36. parents would look at the end of the year report card and ask why so and so got a "B" on their report card. Then the over-achiever child would feel so bad about themselves for not getting straight "A"s and that
37. it affected their entire life and they never felt good enough. I heard that
38. story plenty of times. <br />
39. <br />
40. My son said that some of the kids in middle school got a penalty if they got a grade point
41. average below a 3.8. They would be grounded for the entire summer.<br />
42. <br />
43. So, what do you do? Do you reward or give consequences for "good" and
44. "bad" grades. If you do or don't, why not?  How about if you have one self motivated child and the other non-motivated child? Do you give them both the same reward? I am interested to hear
45. your viewpoint.<br />
46. <br />
47. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
48. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1WveK1Rt1VuraMu8f1KxN9ofs0J_Z0gT24pCnxl50lw48Rm_e5NXDmS8YfWJDI9eiBlvO6CqBtk7wAojs0MmI7rZPkL8qay4VsPAl3TqbsXVKCFPkPOJekUyubLYGcO0adutFywusDOJ/s1600/report_card_sesame_street_503315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk1WveK1Rt1VuraMu8f1KxN9ofs0J_Z0gT24pCnxl50lw48Rm_e5NXDmS8YfWJDI9eiBlvO6CqBtk7wAojs0MmI7rZPkL8qay4VsPAl3TqbsXVKCFPkPOJekUyubLYGcO0adutFywusDOJ/s320/report_card_sesame_street_503315.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
49. &lt;br /&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/5518798284947444562/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2012/07/rewards-for-good-grades.html#comment-form' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/5518798284947444562'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/5518798284947444562'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2012/07/rewards-for-good-grades.html' title='Rewards for Good Grades?'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCx654hiX0d9X6-fi-5JEs93ffOubv231aHcVSVvD-W-lYwfjKqXrWNhlNvJ9t6CpRQo6iWZqlqBebUUp8hIM_uBjPCFClNUmRjncw-Q9M_FIf0TKqPNlmVOmfNTd72B9HtAv0ZR312eF0/s72-c/report_card.gif" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-2141314496572126489</id><published>2011-07-16T14:01:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-07-16T14:01:46.355-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Harry Potter"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Kids"/><title type='text'>Why I Went to the Midnight Show of Harry Potter</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;;&quot;&gt;My husband started reading the Harry Potter series to my son when he was in second grade. He even added his own animated version with different voices for each of the characters. I started filling in for him at Book 3. Each of us quickly were captivated by the story, the characters, and the eloquent writing. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
50. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ZSzUmx1DOp1XTC81QXhkUkhwXqWwX0wsdS1cEy5I0O9ZMojQDEkPSpSf3qrMac6Mo4RJarec_IBlw6B7YT-tbGeDQ98DTf57le09FLgCsgFZbyaHRxjDymrqBg4UfSimjDlPzKyL6Lsj/s1600/HarryPotterBooks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ZSzUmx1DOp1XTC81QXhkUkhwXqWwX0wsdS1cEy5I0O9ZMojQDEkPSpSf3qrMac6Mo4RJarec_IBlw6B7YT-tbGeDQ98DTf57le09FLgCsgFZbyaHRxjDymrqBg4UfSimjDlPzKyL6Lsj/s200/HarryPotterBooks.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>How We Came to be Fond of Harry Potter</strong></span></span></span><br />
51. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My son was eight years old at the Book 7 release in July 2007. The local library put on a fabulous Harry Potter event complete with Harry Potter trivia games and the appearance of the Night Bus. That day people came out in droves, dressing up as Rita Skeeter, Hagrid, Dobby, and many other minor and some major characters. Two different tv stations interviewed my son and he was on that night's news. At midnight that night, my husband and my son also went our local book store for the book's release. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
52. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Read to Your Child</strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It took a year and half for my husband to read all seven books to my son and now that four years have passed my son has read the series seven times and last summer he read all seven books in one week's time. Our entire family have also watched all the movies and read all the books (except my youngest who is currently reading book 2). </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XCkfXrNBt4clBCU9wH9J-8z6BbUDO7UGomXLC56Zz4ETqUeFfeAeTkVt17sfsb-FO-HtfgMalDU3_Xk9c_HR5WFGOCDKhAH02pvwTTRZC2LP7guNwGLl-kvqKTfhfZEZSCTbo7JJdHGY/s1600/Harry+Potter+Midnight+Release%252807-2011%2529+002+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3XCkfXrNBt4clBCU9wH9J-8z6BbUDO7UGomXLC56Zz4ETqUeFfeAeTkVt17sfsb-FO-HtfgMalDU3_Xk9c_HR5WFGOCDKhAH02pvwTTRZC2LP7guNwGLl-kvqKTfhfZEZSCTbo7JJdHGY/s200/Harry+Potter+Midnight+Release%252807-2011%2529+002+%25282%2529.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Midnight Release </strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So when we found out that the final movie was to be released on Friday, July 15, 2011, a summer day with no school the next day, we knew we had to be part of history and see the movie at it's midnight release.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
53. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>The Critics </strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now I saw a lot of status updates on Facebook Thursday expressing how baffled they were that people would be sacrificing their precious sleep time to be standing in line for hours just to be there for the midnight release when they could have been home sleeping and wait to watch the movie at a decent time. They wondered, "what's the point?"</span><br />
54. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3dAWrKmO8IGs0ynrBjztFgq22xWp1HPmPm3mCIv_bJUG6EJiyIQPHTfPoVWEKWYolEV-U8dJ9vafblDzi_KPWCJuTdp0Pinyn6Ip3dCTURCyiUI48qELFzJrzcr_XTAMJV_e2ewBewBRC/s1600/Harry+Potter+Midnight+Release%252807-2011%2529+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3dAWrKmO8IGs0ynrBjztFgq22xWp1HPmPm3mCIv_bJUG6EJiyIQPHTfPoVWEKWYolEV-U8dJ9vafblDzi_KPWCJuTdp0Pinyn6Ip3dCTURCyiUI48qELFzJrzcr_XTAMJV_e2ewBewBRC/s200/Harry+Potter+Midnight+Release%252807-2011%2529+001.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Why I Wouldn't Have Gone </strong></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now if I didn't have (1) kids, (2) a kid that was completely infatuated with the Harry Potter series (3) read all the books myself or (3) the ability to survive a day without eight hours of sleep I too would not have shown up for the midnight showing either.  <o:p></o:p></span></div><br />
55. <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Making Memories </strong></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span>Why not be a part of making memories for our kids? Why not be a part of history in the making? Why not sacrifice sleep to do something that will be down on your kid's top ten things they have done before they were 20. Why not?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjku5x2ummnjZkx3az_wQ9TZWPDQw0u5c8qBipvW3VIzDouyjfEGKOFPZ3uI0BUsD-RrvbK706CB3XJ4ih05saY53-ILES2g2A-v8k9nFlXgwMGCKW0s-srh6H3wVMyh7znh5C6DUsR1mOM/s1600/Harry+Potter+Midnight+Release%252807-2011%2529+008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjku5x2ummnjZkx3az_wQ9TZWPDQw0u5c8qBipvW3VIzDouyjfEGKOFPZ3uI0BUsD-RrvbK706CB3XJ4ih05saY53-ILES2g2A-v8k9nFlXgwMGCKW0s-srh6H3wVMyh7znh5C6DUsR1mOM/s200/Harry+Potter+Midnight+Release%252807-2011%2529+008.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I'm all about making memories for our kids - that's why we take them to places like Yosemite or Disneyland. Here it is in our own backyard (so to speak) and a perfect time in our kids' lives, why not be a part of making memories? My husband was little when he was able to be in line for the opening of Star Wars Empire Strikes Back. He tells our kids that he was there and they just can't believe he was able to be a part of a day of history. Plus, while we stood there in line, granted we were not standing in 100 degree sun, my son noticed that everyone was happy and having such a great time waiting for the movie. The fans united. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
56. <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwcsxFeTIKukiP5_Tovnl1kQddqG1w3fziV0w7vrwKtlXXcGVSEqpVquQNk7m4fe3VQe_3sT0KQ_QjzR-arktoy-Rxjz-Mu0479NhPO7CSk56itoIa127BGhJ6I2Uq6yQntShT2LnlXAvL/s1600/Harry+Potter+Midnight+Release%252807-2011%2529+011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwcsxFeTIKukiP5_Tovnl1kQddqG1w3fziV0w7vrwKtlXXcGVSEqpVquQNk7m4fe3VQe_3sT0KQ_QjzR-arktoy-Rxjz-Mu0479NhPO7CSk56itoIa127BGhJ6I2Uq6yQntShT2LnlXAvL/s200/Harry+Potter+Midnight+Release%252807-2011%2529+011.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong></strong></span><br />
57. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong>Another Midnight Showing?</strong></span></div><strong></strong>There will be more book and movie releases coming out in our future, but there may not be another moment, another book, and another movie quite like this one for our family. We may never go to a midnight release of a movie or book again. Why not seize the moment and be a part of something big; making memories with your children. <br />
58. &lt;div class=&quot;MsoNormal&quot; style=&quot;line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;,&amp;quot;serif&amp;quot;; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: &amp;quot;Times New Roman&amp;quot;;&quot;&gt;But yet again, my son and husband are in the process of reading &quot;The Lord of The Rings&quot; series so maybe we will be awake for &quot;The Hobbit&#39;s&quot; release next year! Maybe. Until then....&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/2141314496572126489/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2011/07/why-i-went-to-midnight-show-of-harry.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/2141314496572126489'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/2141314496572126489'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2011/07/why-i-went-to-midnight-show-of-harry.html' title='Why I Went to the Midnight Show of Harry Potter'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2ZSzUmx1DOp1XTC81QXhkUkhwXqWwX0wsdS1cEy5I0O9ZMojQDEkPSpSf3qrMac6Mo4RJarec_IBlw6B7YT-tbGeDQ98DTf57le09FLgCsgFZbyaHRxjDymrqBg4UfSimjDlPzKyL6Lsj/s72-c/HarryPotterBooks.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-1114730882887938911</id><published>2011-06-22T19:49:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-06-22T19:49:56.129-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="economics"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="family budget"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="recession"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Savings"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="spending"/><title type='text'>How Do You Save Money?</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX7VUDa3yk-BeGAoCNHHdbZ6eireGF84XsznL4xnIUUVIfLVvJOXtN8j5ogJkgtDOctwIxNCQwpDyn_PL0lYz4W0vDLyQirJh15V8SoRX-GbR_7XFIH0vsY4EsBBFqKOHWcUHpz2s8QW21/s1600/istock-piggy-bank.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX7VUDa3yk-BeGAoCNHHdbZ6eireGF84XsznL4xnIUUVIfLVvJOXtN8j5ogJkgtDOctwIxNCQwpDyn_PL0lYz4W0vDLyQirJh15V8SoRX-GbR_7XFIH0vsY4EsBBFqKOHWcUHpz2s8QW21/s400/istock-piggy-bank.jpg&quot; width=&quot;400&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Okay, so we have been told that we Americans have pulled out of a recession, but yet the jobless rate is still high and architectural billings are still low. Frankly, my husband and I are just thankful to have a job these days. Many people have lost a job and have had to be creative with bringing in a family income. &lt;br /&gt;
59. As you work with less income or only have one family member bring in the dough, what sacrifices have you had to make? How do you save money? How do you make ends meet? Have you had to change your spending habits? Do you shop differently or now cut out coupons?<br />
60. <br />
61. The year 2009 was difficult financially for many. My husband and I both had to take a cut in pay, but we were able to make ends meet because we had a roommate for extra income and we went down to a one-car family. The year 2010 seemed to bring some promise for the next year and we went back to full salary, bought a second car, and our roommate moved out. Then 2011 hit. Both my husband and I had to take another cut in pay, but we also had a new car payment and no assistance in our mortgage payments now without a roommate. Needless to say, money got tight quick.<br />
62. <br />
63. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VqGMcPsrNhg/TgKoflqNpYI/AAAAAAAAAnA/AEpBRODGPcY/s1600/stackedquarters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VqGMcPsrNhg/TgKoflqNpYI/AAAAAAAAAnA/AEpBRODGPcY/s200/stackedquarters.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>We have tried to be creative on how to make additionally money and we both considered picking up side jobs. My husband considered going back as a waiter and we both submitted applications for an early morning paper route. Neither of those options panned out. I responded to a photographer's request for assistance on photo editing as well as to some other part-time jobs opportunities I saw on Craigslist. Nothing fared out. If it did turn out that either one of us did pick up second job, life would have been hectic and a an additional challenge with keeping the house clean, the lawn manicured, a busy family's schedule, up with kids, and sane. So, without selling our house and moving out of town, we had to buckle down and change our way of spending.<br />
64. <br />
65. One way we started saving money is by switching from me to my husband doing the grocery shopping. I used to shop Henry's and Trader Joes, but bulk is less expensive so my husband does all the grocery shopping by visiting Costco weekly. Okay, so I'm kind of getting tired of the same-o-same-o, but it is what it is.<br />
66. <br />
67. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaVQX0Fdx3Wm5uiV6GENTrTV7UHM4vgYPMu9ROLxYR1FmEgVpcYAuv7MSqpNPjHGgYFsKFXmZE5077Hh5nIOArW3XrQep8sGUdEjuWCcfvPZC5Bqjh6oW8SSaYkGG4wYnBDUY7C57O-Gz5/s1600/BoyPiggyBank.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaVQX0Fdx3Wm5uiV6GENTrTV7UHM4vgYPMu9ROLxYR1FmEgVpcYAuv7MSqpNPjHGgYFsKFXmZE5077Hh5nIOArW3XrQep8sGUdEjuWCcfvPZC5Bqjh6oW8SSaYkGG4wYnBDUY7C57O-Gz5/s200/BoyPiggyBank.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I buy clothes from second hand stores, look for off season deals for 50-75% off back-to-school clothes, wait in the lines at WalMart, visit the small boutiques that often offer items at such a huge discount, and try to be creative with the items I already have. I don't get a manicure, or a pedicure, or color my hair (but I don't have grey hair either so it isn't a must). We don't have anyone coming to clean our house, or mow our lawn, or walk our dog (not that we ever had that, I'm just say'n). We also slowed down on house improvement projects. In addition to all that, we never eat out unless we have a coupon or for a summer treat at Mr. Frosties (a local ice cream place). We do, although, rent quite a few movies for $1 at Red Box.<br />
68. <br />
69. The most recent discovery in our lives are all those sites out there that offer great deals such as Groupon,  Living Social, Daily Deals, Hookup, and BuyWithMe. I love these sites and I have signed up with every one of them. I know, it clutters up my inbox, but for a savings it is worth it. One thing is one has to be careful to take a deal that benefits ones family not a deal that creates extra spending.<br />
70. <br />
71. So what do you and your family do to save money or make ends meet during this time of economic hardship?</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/1114730882887938911/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-do-you-save-money.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/1114730882887938911'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/1114730882887938911'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-do-you-save-money.html' title='How Do You Save Money?'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX7VUDa3yk-BeGAoCNHHdbZ6eireGF84XsznL4xnIUUVIfLVvJOXtN8j5ogJkgtDOctwIxNCQwpDyn_PL0lYz4W0vDLyQirJh15V8SoRX-GbR_7XFIH0vsY4EsBBFqKOHWcUHpz2s8QW21/s72-c/istock-piggy-bank.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-5106311796406089851</id><published>2011-04-30T08:31:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2011-04-30T21:17:36.380-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="blissful"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="blissfulness"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="happiness"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="happy"/><title type='text'>The State of Blissfulness: Are You Happy?</title><content type='html'>I read this book, &lt;u&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.amazon.com/Geography-Bliss-Grumps-Search-Happiest/dp/0446580260&quot;&gt;The Geography of Bliss: One Grump&#39;s Search for the Happiest Places in the World&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/u&gt;., for my Book Group and it got me thinking about my state of happiness.&lt;br /&gt;
72. <div></div><br />
73. <strong>The Background</strong><br />
74. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCaea6z0Y10ufeV1SVY-ZcWMbFFDmoKEptleDEsLNoew6I_GytuBT7-OP1cVU1sIiPa4Vq4i4gcXRI0odeVVHvD8nePPrPM5gmfk0zf_Qkqk2TTicu00isSslwd8hdXUvvKR7Gc5KXcdTu/s1600/HappyRoadSign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCaea6z0Y10ufeV1SVY-ZcWMbFFDmoKEptleDEsLNoew6I_GytuBT7-OP1cVU1sIiPa4Vq4i4gcXRI0odeVVHvD8nePPrPM5gmfk0zf_Qkqk2TTicu00isSslwd8hdXUvvKR7Gc5KXcdTu/s200/HappyRoadSign.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Basically, the book is about the author, <a href="http://ericweinerbooks.com/content/author.asp">Eric Weiner</a>, who had been reporting for NPR in those worn-torn areas and wanted a break from all that tragedy and to find the happiest places in the world. He traveled to the countries that ranked high on the happiness meter (Gross National Happiness), because there are people who do rate that in the world, and he wanted to discover what made them happy. He wanted answers, because basically, he was a little grumpy and he just wanted to know how to be happy.<br />
75. <div></div><br />
76. <strong>Hot Topic These Days</strong><br />
77. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqFERupwl9OR-tRc66xPdWNGj_rtkJlnrUPPHywjG99fxFmAn0b_jCuQlALh__xQQRj12JDk9MoIKgxFGup_-NuBhC3bEYjdmVcpqsTJDC5gR9i0gsiD7lPVmg6UXWkMrNuVGUMX9nsZK/s1600/happiness-sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqFERupwl9OR-tRc66xPdWNGj_rtkJlnrUPPHywjG99fxFmAn0b_jCuQlALh__xQQRj12JDk9MoIKgxFGup_-NuBhC3bEYjdmVcpqsTJDC5gR9i0gsiD7lPVmg6UXWkMrNuVGUMX9nsZK/s200/happiness-sign.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>This seems to be a hot topic these days because come January Real Simple’s feature article was, “Be Happier this Year: Nine Surprising Strategies to Get You There,” and NPR had a series on being positive, essentially, how to be happy. I guess there is a recent book and website about a gal who decided she wanted to be happy so she took a year to set her life up to be just that. On our city marketing LinkedIn group someone threw the discussion out there, “Name one thing that makes you happy. During the busy work day, people still had time to respond to what makes them happy (I’ll share the responses at the end).<br />
78. <div></div>So, it sounds like we all want a piece of happiness in our lives and we want to know why are some people happy and some are not. <br />
79. <div></div><br />
80. <strong>No Grumps Here</strong><br />
81. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWBBUG1ko5cfFTWqXpN0dqj3jQf894hK4-bWABTPrZLkDsEUY3jBwoYcb2Zk7abdbtZezMmvuoq5O8P2vD6zhxdd4ytfcTzzx0G203AcgMw6l84UwvU0UgyfI4YyAYPz8QaIn3iTo2XqXD/s1600/happy-face.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWBBUG1ko5cfFTWqXpN0dqj3jQf894hK4-bWABTPrZLkDsEUY3jBwoYcb2Zk7abdbtZezMmvuoq5O8P2vD6zhxdd4ytfcTzzx0G203AcgMw6l84UwvU0UgyfI4YyAYPz8QaIn3iTo2XqXD/s200/happy-face.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Now, I would basically say I’m no grump – I’m rather quick to smile and received “The Most Smiley” award in college, and I just love people and take extra effort to make a friend (and keep them, no here today gone tomorrow stuff!). I do have an inner peace and joy in my life just from knowing and loving Him, Our Creator, and knowing that I have a purpose in my life gives me great direction, but it is circumstances that can determine if we are sad or happy. Some of the people Eric Weiner interviewed, happiness is a choice.<br />
82. <div></div>(Now some people might argue that Joy and Happiness are the same thing and the words could be used interchangeable, but I will argue differently. I see joy as a reflection of something deeper while happiness can come and go. We will save this argument for another day.)<br />
83. <div></div><br />
84. <strong>A Sense of Well Being</strong><br />
85. The NPR series points out that happiness can be attained if we have a positive attitude, engaged at work, fulfilling relationships, meaning and purpose in our lives, a since of accomplishment, and well being which includes good physical health.<br />
86. <div></div>So, all that is in one place is a rare deal. Do we have to have all that to be happy? They mentioned that “life is sometimes unfair and we can sometimes be unrealistic.” They also said that “anger is not bad when it is a cause of life’s unfairness.” They said that it is not a “Pursuit of Happiness,” but “Happiness is a Pursuit.” Semantics? Maybe. But it sounded good.<br />
87. <div></div><br />
88. <strong>Are You Happy?</strong><br />
89. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmcaS8Zv8HBDGeF1-6bc352VXCh9vjgh01kBT-lFTUXrRKtIBZGhajk3aRMwyrrFTFc-QooKl2na0b8fzMquMjSsvPHrii_HF0Rj8u8k3BNw0WnGzxJNZ8sbyDw7t07vw_NwxYOPVvu4I/s1600/Extreme_happiness_wallpaper.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSmcaS8Zv8HBDGeF1-6bc352VXCh9vjgh01kBT-lFTUXrRKtIBZGhajk3aRMwyrrFTFc-QooKl2na0b8fzMquMjSsvPHrii_HF0Rj8u8k3BNw0WnGzxJNZ8sbyDw7t07vw_NwxYOPVvu4I/s200/Extreme_happiness_wallpaper.png" width="200" /></a></div>So back in November of 2010 our book group got together and talked about this book by Weiner. I loved this book so much that I ear-marked pages and underlined so many great quotes and ideas. I loved that he visited Iceland and I never realized that the country is full of culturally aware people who basically accept people as they are. It definitely warrants a visit to a county I never ever would have ever thought to be a tourist of.<br />
90. <div></div>Anyway, we sat in big comfy couches and went around our group and responded to the question of if we thought we were happy or not. My answer was: no. Yes, surprising isn’t it, from basically a joyful person who wasn’t so happy in November.<br />
91. <div></div>It got me thinking why I wasn’t happy and as I pondered that question I started evaluating my life and how it effects my well being.<br />
92. <div></div><br />
93. <strong>Here is what makes me unhappy:</strong><br />
94. <ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXUqgCCclqEPYcxCTk7RDQh7TvWz_78wcjjtgVdN8uZLhyphenhyphenIzo2-8ikN7kQTAyxEnJ9diVQAE6U_rwCjDYLZWenHX29SbTiWjTIEN1oJ39i7Fw8Jqd6T6EXkQ5dNTUigXBJ0FwBaKgqS5b/s1600/grumpy-toddler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXUqgCCclqEPYcxCTk7RDQh7TvWz_78wcjjtgVdN8uZLhyphenhyphenIzo2-8ikN7kQTAyxEnJ9diVQAE6U_rwCjDYLZWenHX29SbTiWjTIEN1oJ39i7Fw8Jqd6T6EXkQ5dNTUigXBJ0FwBaKgqS5b/s200/grumpy-toddler.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><li>unfriendly people like the ones who live in our neighborhood of just-out-of-college young people who have no vested interest in the neighborhood because basically they are moving out just as soon as they get a “real” job. We can take a walk and those passersby’s won’t reply “Hi,” even if we say “Hello” first! That really eeerks me. </li>
95. <li>being overwhelmed with house responsibilities – you know, the dirty bathroom; the stacked dishes in the sink that spills over to both sides of the counter; the endless, bottomless laundry basket that keeps producing dirty clothes; the lawn that needs to be mowed again; the bushes that needs to be trimmed; the dog that needs daily cleaned up after; the constant paper flow; the messes that I clean up but then reproduce again, and on and on. And, yes, it is ME who has to do it all. My boys help a bit, but we can’t keep up. We just don’t invite people over any more, because I can’t keep up with our house!</li>
96. <li>clutter. I hate stacks of paper. I hate random stuff on the counter. I like thing put away and I can’t function with clutter. </li>
97. <li>a house that is not finished. Oh man, I can’t tell you how discouraging it is when I can’t see the improvements in the house happening quick enough. It has been three years since we have moved into this bonafide, fixer-upper home and we just don’t have the time to fix up. I’ve see houses built in three months. I saw a church re-gutted, repainted, and redecorated for a complete new look in no time at all, but yet we still have that hole in the bathroom wall. It can get discouraging.</li>
98. </ul><div>So what do we do? Should we let things like the above get us down?</div><div></div>Well, I saw that happiness could be a choice or a conscience decision not to be happy so I started thinking about what makes me happy?<br />
99. <br />
100. <strong>What Makes Me Happy?</strong><br />
101. <div></div><ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwIQrdz08LGz1dPK3RMEY9vylEAqDRCtz0r5UfyC2o8_MtpZGqVrIL_wyfTsSufXmikq1GfE4kRdvkau1g2z8E9zGKG-eiBX1aTZ7VZeUV9r7-c865BJv7iaZlCt91tX-TTB_WLtmQS8ee/s1600/GerberDaisy-yellow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwIQrdz08LGz1dPK3RMEY9vylEAqDRCtz0r5UfyC2o8_MtpZGqVrIL_wyfTsSufXmikq1GfE4kRdvkau1g2z8E9zGKG-eiBX1aTZ7VZeUV9r7-c865BJv7iaZlCt91tX-TTB_WLtmQS8ee/s200/GerberDaisy-yellow.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><li>My family. They make me laugh. We have so much fun together and sometimes the boys and I will just dance or just be silly and we have lots of fun. We have a lot of laughter in this house. (So how can I ever be unhappy? Right?)</li>
102. <li>Organization. Organization essentially helps in my mental state of mind.</li>
103. <li>The color yellow.</li>
104. <li>Gerber Daisies.</li>
105. <li>A night out writing. Writing gets my thoughts out on “paper” so they don’t stay cluttering up my mind.</li>
106. <li>A rainy day.</li>
107. <li>A clean organized desk. (Or should I just say, a DESK please!)</li>
108. <li>A chunk of chocolate with a chai latte with soy milk while reading a good book.</li>
109. <li>Sitting on a hill reading the Bible and spending time in prayer.</li>
110. </ul><div></div>In the book, Geography of Bliss, Eric meets a housekeeper in India that always came to work happy. She wore lip stick and a bracelet and hummed while she worked. She lived in the slums with her family. The money she made fed a large family. She could come to work down and out about her “luck” in life, but no, she decided that she was happy and there was no reason to waste time and be less than that. This character in the book has stuck with me more than any other. Can you be happy when circumstances around you are less than desirable?<br />
111. <br />
112. <div></div><strong>So what makes you happy? Does organization or lack of it affect you as much as it does me? Please share about your state of happiness and if you think it is a choice.</strong><br />
113. <br />
114. &lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: x-small;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;LinkedIn Discussion: Name one thing that makes you happy.&lt;/strong&gt; * performing for an audience&amp;nbsp;* early morning with a great cup of coffee * the peace of an early morning - but with Tazo Awake Tea instead of coffee&amp;nbsp;* knowing that I&#39;ve helped someone * swimming in the ocean * my daughters laughter * when people communicate clearly, openly, and easily * college basketball tournaments&amp;nbsp;* visiting a National park&amp;nbsp;* Applause * being on the water under sail headed to somewhere new&amp;nbsp;* knowing where my cell phone is when I need it * A nice, unexpected surprise * being on the water under sail * a good book * a good economy * the sun *&amp;nbsp;when people show the ability to step outside their own agendas * hearing that an unemployed friend has a new job * taking my dogs to Dog Beach for the day.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/5106311796406089851/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2011/04/state-of-blissfulness-are-you-happy.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/5106311796406089851'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/5106311796406089851'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2011/04/state-of-blissfulness-are-you-happy.html' title='The State of Blissfulness: Are You Happy?'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCaea6z0Y10ufeV1SVY-ZcWMbFFDmoKEptleDEsLNoew6I_GytuBT7-OP1cVU1sIiPa4Vq4i4gcXRI0odeVVHvD8nePPrPM5gmfk0zf_Qkqk2TTicu00isSslwd8hdXUvvKR7Gc5KXcdTu/s72-c/HappyRoadSign.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-4442893003850642379</id><published>2011-03-06T21:56:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2011-03-07T12:00:22.745-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="attitude"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Charlie Sheen"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Eliot Spitzer"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Gaddafi"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="John Galliano"/><title type='text'>&quot;godlike&quot; Behavior</title><content type='html'>The other day my family and I watched the movie &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315327/&quot;&gt;Bruce Almighty&lt;/a&gt;&quot; (not to be confused with &quot;Evan Almighty&quot; which, I just recently discovered,&amp;nbsp;is a spin off of the Bruce version). &lt;br /&gt;
115. <br />
116. Anyway, in the movie, Bruce is complaining to God that he is not doing a very good job, so God calls Bruce in and says he will give him a job: to be "god" to the people in his neighborhood. Then Bruce has "godlike" ability to not only move salt and pepper shakers without touching it, but even bring in the moon closer to Earth. At first, Bruce only cares about himself and uses his ability to benefit only himself. Then things start going wrong and he can't even help himself nor handle all the prayers he gets in on a daily basis. At the end he confesses he can't be "godlike" even in those couple blocks and gives God his job back for his neighborhood.<br />
117. <br />
118. Well lately, I have been sickened by real people who have been so glorified over the years that they act like they too have "godlike" abilities and are not like everyone else.<br />
119. <br />
120. I haven't even watched on episode of Two and Half Men, and I am only vaguely familiar with some of the movies he has been in, but those interviews of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000221/">Charlie Sheen</a> are disturbing!<br />
121. <br />
122. He acts like he thinks he is "godlike." As if everything is in his power and we should all bow down to him. As you surely know, the series he is in was cut short due to Charlie's recent behavior. On the <a href="http://www.towleroad.com/2011/02/watch-charlie-sheens-insane-today-show-interview.html">Today Show</a> on Monday, Sheen can not even apologize to CBS for his crude behaviour that caused them to shut down production for the season, but they should accept him for the way he is. <br />
123. <br />
124. On Tuesday we find out that Charlie has two "goddesses" in his house; yes he lives with two women and it seems that "rules" do not apply to Charlie.<br />
125. <br />
126. Libia's leader, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muammar_al-Gaddafi">Colonel Muammar Gaddafi</a>, also thinks he has "godlike" attributes. He is <a href="http://www.blogger.com/wiki/List_of_longest_ruling_non-royal_leaders" title="List of longest ruling non-royal leaders">one of the longest-serving rulers in history</a>. Since he took over power in 1969, I am sure that he thinks that he is not like everyone else and he can't be touched. Funny thing, after all the protests in the street, he says that there has been no rebelling and his people "love" him. He must be completely delusional.<br />
127. <br />
128. During this Paris' Fashion week, <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2011/03/john-galliano-fired-dior-designer-anti-semitic-video-natalie-portman.html?cid=6a00d8341c630a53ef014e5f91fdd5970c">John Galliano</a>, Christian Dior's esteemed designer, was fired after an episode of him on spouting anit-semitic statements went viral. When I was listening to BBC, they had mentioned that Galliano told everyone in the bar that they were ugly and if he was Hitler and he would kill them all and some how that all led to "loving Hitler" <br />
129. <br />
130. New York Gov. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/nyregion/10cnd-spitzer.html">Eliot Spitzer</a> never thought he would be found out either. He wasn't thinking that maybe he was a man with moral obligations like some other human beings are.<br />
131. <br />
132. So, these people who act they have "god-like" abilities, have peppered our news last week. Since we have been listening all week to the news about these people, let's just pray that their attitudes haven't affected ours. Do you forget sometimes at home or in the office that the world doesn't revolve around you? Do you participate in trying to help others feel better about themselves? Do you ask questions about others or do you dominate conversation about yourself? Do you enjoy that others feel intimidated around you or do you genuine care for others? How can we portray a more "others-oriented" attitude in our lives this week? <br />
133. <br />
134. &lt;span style=&quot;color: #073763;&quot;&gt;PS What did you think about the news of Charlie Sheen&#39;s interview last week?&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/4442893003850642379/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2011/03/god-like-behavior.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/4442893003850642379'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/4442893003850642379'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2011/03/god-like-behavior.html' title='&quot;godlike&quot; Behavior'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-5582362272867951291</id><published>2011-02-24T18:17:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2011-02-25T13:48:39.894-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Book"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Borders Bookstore"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="reading"/><title type='text'>Borders in Our Lives</title><content type='html'>I have to admit I was surprised to hear the news that Borders filed bankruptcy&amp;nbsp;last&amp;nbsp;week and are closing 200 stores nationwide.&amp;nbsp;Although, I was initially surprised, I understand how the Kindle and amazon.com have squashed much of their business driving them to such desperation. And, I have to admit, I am guilty of buying books off of amazon.com too, mostly because they offer the cheaper rate of the used version.&lt;br /&gt;
135. <br />
136. <strong>Our Local Store Still Open</strong><br />
137. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbJgTmqPdXbfPn49x07-HlW1QRxz4egkgAswLyuDoVcNGXgXCE0vtGBu1IwMHjVNLVQJJx1UlqjO9QXRoxvkE2i-E0RhKDXHEHXMqI1EFKijEh_kBQ15ekMmpvTFKYm4nToe0VLHt0Xpc/s1600/books1-clipart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbJgTmqPdXbfPn49x07-HlW1QRxz4egkgAswLyuDoVcNGXgXCE0vtGBu1IwMHjVNLVQJJx1UlqjO9QXRoxvkE2i-E0RhKDXHEHXMqI1EFKijEh_kBQ15ekMmpvTFKYm4nToe0VLHt0Xpc/s200/books1-clipart.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Our entire family was relieved to find out that the Borders that we go to in Mission Valley was slated to stay open. We went there the weekend after the bankruptcy announcement and the store was full of people buzzing around looking at books and magazines and buying coffee from "Seattle's Best." The store seems to be busy every time we go there and, thus, the reason I was initially surprised of the announcement.<br />
138. <br />
139. <strong>Went to Bookstore The Eve of His Birth</strong><br />
140. On the eve of my eldest son's birth, my husband and I were looking for something to keep us slightly occupied while we waited for our Sweet Pea to decide to come out of my womb; so we went down the hill to the Borders to pass some time. While we roamed the aisles of books, I started feeling very odd in deed and sat down in one of those big squishy chairs to wait for my husband to come back from perusing the books so we could go back home. <br />
141. <br />
142. As we walked out of the store my husband saw someone he knew and, being the kind person that he is, didn't say anything about how his wife felt weird inside and needed to go home. So we stood in the parking lot and chatted with this gentlemen; he actually talked the entire time, something about a girl he liked, and I incessantly looked down at my watch while he perpetually talked. When we finally got home and into bed, that night my water broke and my son was born at 6am the next morning. I still walk by that squishy chair and that patch of parking lot where we stood talking to that guy and remember that time when I was laboring at Borders.<br />
143. <br />
144. <strong>He Grew Up In the Store</strong><br />
145. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLyqlRvgN0riSwdxhm99pgTMrdYT7lkXxbXT4ULeisRhc1l5-uMKg1uK2NarqetbtODASLJC26peCaSFkLCChwBsJnDoF-TaYJw3V1v7diCQJ2kfv1244mqdw1LoTDZbJxxVQ474ZXYZJr/s1600/boy_reading.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLyqlRvgN0riSwdxhm99pgTMrdYT7lkXxbXT4ULeisRhc1l5-uMKg1uK2NarqetbtODASLJC26peCaSFkLCChwBsJnDoF-TaYJw3V1v7diCQJ2kfv1244mqdw1LoTDZbJxxVQ474ZXYZJr/s200/boy_reading.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>It is funny that we were in a bookstore the eve of my son's birth because this son loves books. Even as a child he would sit in front of his bookshelf and look through those colorful books one at a time and leave a big mound of books next to him. He didn't really care about the toys in the room, just the books.<br />
146. <br />
147. <br />
148. That same Borders is also the very one I would continue to take my son for the children's book reading and singing. The gal who read every week to this big group of kids, was so animated and fun, that I even started inviting my friends to it.<br />
149. <br />
150. It is also the same bookstore that my husband took our son to the midnight release of Harry Potter #7, where people from all ages came as Rita Skeeter, Dobby, Sirius Black, and Dumbledore and they played trivial pursuit over the loud speaker and bleary eyed teens sat down in the corners of the store to read the new release.<br />
151. <br />
152. <strong>As Time Goes By</strong><br />
153. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyAHsEjFTTaT9_crAzanMpCg_cXVcodK8FviZFykJufrY3DbDH2kBQ4XsQcNwXkUNgrXdXjIG5vkfovwb4TzODUqUN8yFSBmcNBa9hsY6bpoI_lTn6hUc1kT6UNchdLrjUo2lZ2h3kqiIt/s1600/stacked-books-clipart.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyAHsEjFTTaT9_crAzanMpCg_cXVcodK8FviZFykJufrY3DbDH2kBQ4XsQcNwXkUNgrXdXjIG5vkfovwb4TzODUqUN8yFSBmcNBa9hsY6bpoI_lTn6hUc1kT6UNchdLrjUo2lZ2h3kqiIt/s200/stacked-books-clipart.gif" width="200" /></a></div>Yes, this little boy is now 12 years old (well next month) and he still loves books and, yes, the Borders in Mission Valley is still his all time favorite store, even more than GameStop or Best Buys. This Borders is also the same one that my son goes to redeem his gift cards or to spend his allowance. He now has a large collection of precious books at home and he would rather have a book in hard back cover than in soft.<br />
154. <br />
155. This weekend we went back to the store and it was bit of a rude awakening when my almost 12 year old didn't venture to the back corner where the children's section is located. He now keeps to the Young Adults section. He flits from here to there, from one aisle to another searching for his perfect next read.<br />
156. <br />
157. We were sad to hear of the loss of 200 Borders in the nation, but we are also very delighted that our neighborhood store is staying put.<br />
158. <br />
159. &lt;span style=&quot;color: #274e13;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Has a bookstore or a library become part of your life?&amp;nbsp;And, on a side note,&amp;nbsp;do you own a Kindle? Happy Reading!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/5582362272867951291/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2011/02/borders-in-our-lives.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/5582362272867951291'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/5582362272867951291'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2011/02/borders-in-our-lives.html' title='Borders in Our Lives'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbJgTmqPdXbfPn49x07-HlW1QRxz4egkgAswLyuDoVcNGXgXCE0vtGBu1IwMHjVNLVQJJx1UlqjO9QXRoxvkE2i-E0RhKDXHEHXMqI1EFKijEh_kBQ15ekMmpvTFKYm4nToe0VLHt0Xpc/s72-c/books1-clipart.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-882045658118290240</id><published>2011-02-13T08:41:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2011-02-13T13:37:58.659-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Boulder"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="climate"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="cold"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Colorado"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="New York City"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="snow"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="weather"/><title type='text'>Cold-n-Warm Climates</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6l3S7WiAZJvTC7WeilH9aqXt-liOcr5UyylQQHjILbm-EcEw37WvdS9dDTsORFb6jUBrJRjAhIKTJgn62bZqbjBIAQSNdj0wFD0Q9kbncgEaSQ2Ekn9szLdPrprM_QqbQShiKdg7cxgYl/s1600/Feb+2011+042.JPG&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; h5=&quot;true&quot; height=&quot;133&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6l3S7WiAZJvTC7WeilH9aqXt-liOcr5UyylQQHjILbm-EcEw37WvdS9dDTsORFb6jUBrJRjAhIKTJgn62bZqbjBIAQSNdj0wFD0Q9kbncgEaSQ2Ekn9szLdPrprM_QqbQShiKdg7cxgYl/s200/Feb+2011+042.JPG&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Recently my husband, two kids, and I went to Boulder, Colorado for a family wedding. We are fair-weathered San Diegian folk so we had to collect a few warmer items before we left. The boys received hats and gloves from Santa and I nabbed coats from Costco back in October. I&amp;nbsp;bought me some boots and&amp;nbsp;my&amp;nbsp;husband thought he would be fine without a coat and just took layers. &lt;br /&gt;
160. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_rKxWbrmdiTL_XvvtCrtIdIogsdOLcfeItcKXSqvQzfBQ0a7MB4Y0OcWOuchlHM37Bp3RtkmcsfA6bUXUI8GgIt-WCLfV_blrktdqG48B2lELMcX8LAa21NLNG45_a0NvA7Q46lTIHW7/s1600/ManCold.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp_rKxWbrmdiTL_XvvtCrtIdIogsdOLcfeItcKXSqvQzfBQ0a7MB4Y0OcWOuchlHM37Bp3RtkmcsfA6bUXUI8GgIt-WCLfV_blrktdqG48B2lELMcX8LAa21NLNG45_a0NvA7Q46lTIHW7/s200/ManCold.gif" width="162" /></a></div>The week before we left to Colorado, I was watching the weather forecast and if you remember there was a huge snow storm that fell on most of the United States except us in Southern California. Earlier in the week, Boulder had a high of -7 degrees. We thought we would die in such cold. Fortunately for us, it rose to above freezing when we arrived and we were able to enjoy the best treat ever: snowfall. It was only the second time my kids experienced snow (we went up to Big Bear, California one time while it was snowing).<br />
161. <br />
162. While in Colorado, my family and I noticed a few differences in how the cold and warm weather cities are different:<br />
163. <br />
164. <ol><li>In the airport restrooms, when you wave your hands under the faucet to wash your hands in San Diego the water comes out cold and in Denver it comes out warm.</li>
165. <li>Whenever we walked into a store, restaurant, and even a house in Colorado, hot air blows down at the entrance. In San Diego, whatever the weather is outside it is usually the weather inside; the only time there is blowing air is maybe at a grocery store to keep out the flies from coming into the store.</li>
166. <li>Because of #2 we were constantly taking off and putting on our coats. One carries one's coat around in stores, they have hooks for them in the restaurants, there are coat checkers at museums, and hangers at the entrance of receptions.</li>
167. <li>I still haven't quite figured this one out, but all the stores and restaurants have this extra room at the entrance. I know they have that at the zoo, but that is for a precaution in case an animal gets out one door, they can trap them with the with the second. Maybe that is the same concept with the cold and hot air in these cold weathered states.</li>
168. <li>People wear light weight shirts under their coats. This is the weirdest concept af all. I would think that sweaters were sold and worn more in those cold states, but I honestly didn't see anyone wearing a sweater. When we arrived to Denver, we stopped at this BBQ restaurant. It looked as if it had recently snowed outside and I knew that earlier that week it was minus degrees, but the  hostess at the entrance was wearing this cap-sleeve t-shirt. This concept was very odd for all of us.</li>
169. </ol><br />
170. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-0SnTzcXXmVVhY4EHOXmd6sZQq1I3e71kCqXEHi_Ms7cPh323UhrgVoZVvWFnGMgqUNhMJQJCwawA2dQLQSkitWNFGs6LvyQVn-lf_9Zs5Cm11XvjcLmLHylJc-qpuxSR1ofz1Jull3Xk/s1600/Feb+2011+067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-0SnTzcXXmVVhY4EHOXmd6sZQq1I3e71kCqXEHi_Ms7cPh323UhrgVoZVvWFnGMgqUNhMJQJCwawA2dQLQSkitWNFGs6LvyQVn-lf_9Zs5Cm11XvjcLmLHylJc-qpuxSR1ofz1Jull3Xk/s200/Feb+2011+067.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>I discovered this reality when I went to New York City in December with friends a few years back. Our first night on the town, my friend and I went to a restaurant named Casimir on Avenue B, between 6 and 7th Streets (I ordered clams for the first time and they were so delicious, although that is all they served, a big bowl of clams, no side dish). Anyway, my friend and I took our coats off and did what any San Diegian would do, put the coat over the back of the chair (although they were long and dragged the ground and people could step on them). My friend and I started looking around to see how others in the restaurant were doing it and noticed that no one else had their coat on their chair, they hung them at the front of the restaurant or on hooks near ones table. No one was wearing heavy sweaters or scarves around their necks, except for us, but the women even wore sparkly tops and light weight short sleeve shirts. This struck my friend and I as very odd.<br />
171. <br />
172. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifNImME-z1UbDJAIJLMNfYdiHb0UbrxU1IY9H9haY_iQ6uQcj3-KuNh6TZCbXwnQSNw8ohnpxuCv3mC4IuTpHIp39txePKXSEzm59MADZy-Fxz7pKOkf8qNOaNB0hI7rW49VTLum5Wyv8E/s1600/snowingOnStreet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifNImME-z1UbDJAIJLMNfYdiHb0UbrxU1IY9H9haY_iQ6uQcj3-KuNh6TZCbXwnQSNw8ohnpxuCv3mC4IuTpHIp39txePKXSEzm59MADZy-Fxz7pKOkf8qNOaNB0hI7rW49VTLum5Wyv8E/s200/snowingOnStreet.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>The day of the wedding in Colorado, it started to snow. We arrived at the church and everyone dumped their coats on chairs and couches on the way in. Now the thing that hit me as so strange is that the bridesmaids were wearing spaghetti strap dresses while it was snowing outside. The entire time I sat there I thought that was the strangest thing.<br />
173. <br />
174. When I got married in November in San Diego, I had long sleeves made out of netting, because churches and reception halls don't usually have the heater on and I didn't want to get cold, because frankly, I get very uncomfortable cold even on my wedding day. It turned out to be a very beautiful that day and I didn't need the sleeves, but it turned out fine anyway.<br />
175. <br />
176. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg6zgehe3JeO4uLGOinxDXSj_SLXHjWL97wERvgTnMWHznAoWJyd8UbWyqYOKbV6YU04wa93zZjGfbTqAkKNKIv9W9F608EwMLGh3G9YBsZiT1ty6UpxTd5AVXp124jJUU43PtUF2327Kn/s1600/hot-n-cold+temp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg6zgehe3JeO4uLGOinxDXSj_SLXHjWL97wERvgTnMWHznAoWJyd8UbWyqYOKbV6YU04wa93zZjGfbTqAkKNKIv9W9F608EwMLGh3G9YBsZiT1ty6UpxTd5AVXp124jJUU43PtUF2327Kn/s200/hot-n-cold+temp.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>In San Diego, airconditioners and heaters are rarely used. Basically, the average temperature year round (now don't hit me) is 70 degrees so if it goes below that temp or above that temp you wear your jacket or short sleeve shirt inside or outside of stores and restaurants. In my office, we hardly ever put the heater on or air and it can get cold in there so I will bring a sweater. My friend and I were talking about this concept and we realized there were only two, possibly three, months that people could comfortably wear tank tops or spaghetti straps: July, August, and possibly September. (Note: don't visit San Diego in June, it is cold and cloudy almost the entire month.)<br />
177. <br />
178. Just two evenings ago it dropped to 37 degrees here in San Diego and it was so cold in our house that I was wearing my coat, scarf, and boots inside the house. Our house is set up for 70 degrees with it's single paned windows so our little heater just won't cut through the chill.<br />
179. <br />
180. &lt;strong&gt;Have you noticed any other differences between the cold and warm climate cities?&lt;/strong&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/882045658118290240/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2011/02/hot-n-cold-climates.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/882045658118290240'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/882045658118290240'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2011/02/hot-n-cold-climates.html' title='Cold-n-Warm Climates'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6l3S7WiAZJvTC7WeilH9aqXt-liOcr5UyylQQHjILbm-EcEw37WvdS9dDTsORFb6jUBrJRjAhIKTJgn62bZqbjBIAQSNdj0wFD0Q9kbncgEaSQ2Ekn9szLdPrprM_QqbQShiKdg7cxgYl/s72-c/Feb+2011+042.JPG" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-7642258794563769097</id><published>2011-01-06T21:59:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2011-01-07T18:02:23.112-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Movies"/><title type='text'>What Movies Are on Your Most Watched List?</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj10AgboqMcMEqXUFAhoSXA5HEvtym03BnZ0YCW6kAFcN8JkrXlUrHcYXLJE8TURInE0xKeKcInbT9ADo-r9uI03yrzknDDVp3ylYUYbzWw_z6WCunlLK4kPTvQPz8s07ycB5TcVpQQCJkb/s1600/movie.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;180&quot; n4=&quot;true&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj10AgboqMcMEqXUFAhoSXA5HEvtym03BnZ0YCW6kAFcN8JkrXlUrHcYXLJE8TURInE0xKeKcInbT9ADo-r9uI03yrzknDDVp3ylYUYbzWw_z6WCunlLK4kPTvQPz8s07ycB5TcVpQQCJkb/s200/movie.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Okay people, I don&#39;t have a post on making New Year&#39;s resolutions or having a meanigful word for the year, but I have been thinking a lot about movies.&lt;br /&gt;
181. <br />
182. You see, I have been laying in bed since January third, because I have this cold (that I hear so many other people have had this first week of the new year), and today, after lounging between my white flannel sheets most of the day, I finally feel better and have a bit of energy to write a post.<br />
183. <br />
184. For the last several days as I sprawl across the couch or lounge on my bed, I have been watching my favorite movies. You know, those feel-good movies that you own and watch over and over again. Those movies you watch when your hubby is out with his friends, or when you are folding clothes, or late Saturday afternoon when you need a break from carting the kids from one soccer game to the next, or when you are sick and in control of the controller! The movie that is a no brainer, you can watch any ol' time of the day - just to be entertained or to feel better.<br />
185. <br />
186. So here is my list:<br />
187. <ul><li>When Harry Meets Sally (of course this is on the top of my list because frankly I have watched this movie so many times and it is STILL my very, very favorite-ist of all!)</li>
188. <li>Love Actually (can you believe how these British actors pop up everywhere in all the movies that need a British actor - like is there anyone else in England that can act or what!)</li>
189. <li>13 Going on 30 (Mark Ruffalo rocks)</li>
190. <li>Marley and Me (<a href="http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2009/04/thoughts-about-marley-me-and-other.html">already wrote a post on that one</a>)</li>
191. <li>While You Were Sleeping (watched that one in bed this morning)</li>
192. <li>Serendipity (John Cusack is the Man)</li>
193. <li>Return to Me (I know, silly, silly, but good mindless entertainment)</li>
194. <li>Dan in Real Life</li>
195. </ul>Recently added to the list:<br />
196. <ul><li>The Proposal</li>
197. <li>Just Like Heaven</li>
198. <li>The Family Man</li>
199. </ul><div>Add if I'm in the mood for it:</div><ul><li>The Thomas Crown Affair (don't you just love Rene Russo's hair - and hey, she is older than me in this movie and she can look like that! There might be hope just yet!)</li>
200. </ul><br />
201. &lt;div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color: white; color: #38761d;&quot;&gt;What are the movies you can watch repeatedly throughout the year?&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/7642258794563769097/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-are-your-favorite-movies-that-you.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/7642258794563769097'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/7642258794563769097'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2011/01/what-are-your-favorite-movies-that-you.html' title='What Movies Are on Your Most Watched List?'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj10AgboqMcMEqXUFAhoSXA5HEvtym03BnZ0YCW6kAFcN8JkrXlUrHcYXLJE8TURInE0xKeKcInbT9ADo-r9uI03yrzknDDVp3ylYUYbzWw_z6WCunlLK4kPTvQPz8s07ycB5TcVpQQCJkb/s72-c/movie.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-5913789854273650366</id><published>2010-12-21T23:45:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-12-22T00:02:26.010-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Christmas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Friends"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Friendships"/><title type='text'>Christmas Cards</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvWatFivxFVMgwuxJXYSTyUw4pv8VaC8wSk2CXiHMbJqGnRcI8tNIUxyKexF1RpHYfMjjRvcSoK8TPfFRZ6GcFIg9M4gfPRhi8GdGdXI3EI0t75GqUFvc3mybEOZhDXI8ukYJTYg7JU8e/s1600/christmas%252520card04.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;118&quot; n4=&quot;true&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvWatFivxFVMgwuxJXYSTyUw4pv8VaC8wSk2CXiHMbJqGnRcI8tNIUxyKexF1RpHYfMjjRvcSoK8TPfFRZ6GcFIg9M4gfPRhi8GdGdXI3EI0t75GqUFvc3mybEOZhDXI8ukYJTYg7JU8e/s200/christmas%252520card04.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;One of my many favorite things about Christmastime is receiving Christmas cards! I love getting a stack in our mailbox, seeing the latest family photo, reading up on the happenings from the past year, and just admiring all the different types of cards! I just love it!&lt;br /&gt;
202. <br />
203. <strong>Up For Display</strong><br />
204. Every year I try to be creative with how I display them; tape them on our our sliding glass door, hang them from Ikea green and red clothes clips, stack them in a bowl (no way!), but this year I arranged them on a <a href="http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=593&f=5877">CB2 Cable Photo Cord</a> held stationery by a mighty, tiny, little magnet. One year I kept the cards up on display until after Valentine's Day.<br />
205. <br />
206. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgA7piIu8KO8J4i5Ih3KR7I4HXgCPcvqJMTx-l-283KfaAffwQ4Ad4FCNZ_69cZKSWcBbj7VtWEqflAM1_IyiWNYr15a_JUG5MHRb9rX8wMCO1xaat8ZS-aYtVJTux8dIvHbzW66V7p-q/s1600/manger_noel_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="125" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfgA7piIu8KO8J4i5Ih3KR7I4HXgCPcvqJMTx-l-283KfaAffwQ4Ad4FCNZ_69cZKSWcBbj7VtWEqflAM1_IyiWNYr15a_JUG5MHRb9rX8wMCO1xaat8ZS-aYtVJTux8dIvHbzW66V7p-q/s200/manger_noel_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><strong>The List Keeps Growing</strong><br />
207. For several years I made other people their own specialized Christmas cards for $1.00/card with special services (printing labels on the envelope, licking the flaps closed, or putting the stamps in the corner). Each family had a different size number on their mailing list: some had a list of 50, most had 100, a few had 300, and one had a list of 500 names. Whatever the size of your list, how do you determine who to add or who to take off of your list?<br />
208. <br />
209. (I just have to add here that this is the first year I didn't make our own Christmas cards, but I ordered them from Shutterfly by the October 31st deadline to cash in on the killer discount. They are able to produce my cards cheaper than I could ever make them on my own.)<br />
210. <br />
211. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRQ-16XSDG3pH2qKT6WaACteQ1whezKtuDQgFeTssWeN7_QLUHyNUa9YPTqlyeebZ606mjJVg2AY8mBa_HO9Jmnl5o3PyLkMpGAEyCIrKaV8KzmgyUXim_jHGpOr0jDAE0AJa-5UtXTQI/s1600/Noel_front_door.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRQ-16XSDG3pH2qKT6WaACteQ1whezKtuDQgFeTssWeN7_QLUHyNUa9YPTqlyeebZ606mjJVg2AY8mBa_HO9Jmnl5o3PyLkMpGAEyCIrKaV8KzmgyUXim_jHGpOr0jDAE0AJa-5UtXTQI/s200/Noel_front_door.jpg" width="152" /></a></div><strong>I'm Not On Their List</strong><br />
212. Well, the other day I was at my friends house when I noticed two cards from mutual friends. Not so unusual, except, I didn't receive those Christmas cards myself. They sent their cards to me last year, but not this year. Yes, my feelings were a bit hurt, and it got me thinking about our Christmas card mailing list. <br />
213. <br />
214. <strong>My Mailing List</strong><br />
215. On my mailing list I have family (of course), cousins (even though some do not send me a card, I just send them one anyway because how rude is it not to even send your own cousin a Christmas card), friends from college, roommates from years gone by, my husband's friends, friends that I have known a very long time, friends from church, my boys' friends' family, and new friends. So my list grows and shrinks year by year.<br />
216. <br />
217. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7j9WwuqteKdZjqmpKA6my_qYnGOYQRNgVIzxq8h35NtcpiXe6_51MqPH0FWmrVkLFZxNqRA93RzSnfsQDB947gn-WlaBxKLFDNBcjiLkZ6erI7DipOT7xVWdFZPky7KQtsQ0Vb6eyuAq/s1600/xmas01-big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7j9WwuqteKdZjqmpKA6my_qYnGOYQRNgVIzxq8h35NtcpiXe6_51MqPH0FWmrVkLFZxNqRA93RzSnfsQDB947gn-WlaBxKLFDNBcjiLkZ6erI7DipOT7xVWdFZPky7KQtsQ0Vb6eyuAq/s200/xmas01-big.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><strong>When to Take Them Off The List</strong><br />
218. So the big question is when do you cross people off your list? I have friends on my list that I have not seen for years, but I love them and I want our lives to intersect back to each other and I couldn't bare to cross them off the list. It's like crossing them out of my life. Christmas is sometimes the one time of the year that gives me a window into their lives for the past year. <br />
219. <br />
220. I don't cross people off the list if they still send me their card, but there have been people I didn't know very well anyway who I don't see much and I can't imagine how are lives will intersect again type of people who I cross off the list and feel okay about doing that.<br />
221. <br />
222. My boys have also been in on the Christmas card mailing list, because they too fancy to send a family card to their friends as well. And, for the most part, we are friends with the parents of our kids' friends anyway.<br />
223. <br />
224. But, at what point do we cross them off? Some people stike out people on their list that they haven't seen for half the year or their kids don't hang out with the other kid so off the list they go.<br />
225. <br />
226. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCVk5uvF2TjCJ18p_eN_Qal3h9hELiwZdrbmk0H7W7g0UvEgDIGk41pF85QzvbwdDTY7h8bHcUF1aRzgkWIVPelF-RXMN3UV6S9J_kAbvY6N_aWf46_qrA3oomVVM3wZBQhDxjd7fjrQC/s1600/religious-christmas-cards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCVk5uvF2TjCJ18p_eN_Qal3h9hELiwZdrbmk0H7W7g0UvEgDIGk41pF85QzvbwdDTY7h8bHcUF1aRzgkWIVPelF-RXMN3UV6S9J_kAbvY6N_aWf46_qrA3oomVVM3wZBQhDxjd7fjrQC/s200/religious-christmas-cards.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><strong>Friendships Come and Go</strong><br />
227. It seems our lives are so disposal to some. Friendships come and go. As I receive my cards I think about friends who used to send me cards who don't any more. How did I get off their list? I just crossed a friend off my list after thirteen years of sharing cards and lives. I must confess, it was difficult and it sadden me to do it. I so wished our lives and our familys' lives could have intertwined, but after not receiving a card for the past two years, regretfully, I knew I had to finally release this friend from my life.<br />
228. <br />
229. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieyyFfneLaZcyphlIqua6jCFqA7cr72EnrIAKMORMc3Ph2pAtDHIbgfrvHvCY6WI6zMbpOddYeMysjXYnLMvgXbFvATxhf315ZZD7WotItSEz2zh7oPsMoefCF9lwnOf8e7FRxGm5Zd4DL/s1600/unbranded-clic-christmas-cards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieyyFfneLaZcyphlIqua6jCFqA7cr72EnrIAKMORMc3Ph2pAtDHIbgfrvHvCY6WI6zMbpOddYeMysjXYnLMvgXbFvATxhf315ZZD7WotItSEz2zh7oPsMoefCF9lwnOf8e7FRxGm5Zd4DL/s200/unbranded-clic-christmas-cards.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>In this festive time I have to say I get a little sadden for every card I don't receive. I love sending Christmas cards and I just love receiving them so please add me to your Christmas card mailing list because I love to hear your stories and see your smiling faces. (I know, so gushy, but it's Christmastime so I'm allowing myself to be a bit sappy.)<br />
230. <br />
231. &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #38761d;&quot;&gt;Merry Christmas to my fabulous blog friends!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/5913789854273650366/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-cards.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/5913789854273650366'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/5913789854273650366'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-cards.html' title='Christmas Cards'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnvWatFivxFVMgwuxJXYSTyUw4pv8VaC8wSk2CXiHMbJqGnRcI8tNIUxyKexF1RpHYfMjjRvcSoK8TPfFRZ6GcFIg9M4gfPRhi8GdGdXI3EI0t75GqUFvc3mybEOZhDXI8ukYJTYg7JU8e/s72-c/christmas%252520card04.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-8169435358381773449</id><published>2010-12-12T23:40:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-12-13T16:18:56.804-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Age"/><title type='text'>Another Birthday. Another Attitude Change. Another Day to Celebrate Life.</title><content type='html'>&lt;p$1&gt;&lt;p$1&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuuvr40xWuUiouiDngr0qIt_j2kEf6KvYHDPg2ckP3zXNIYL1-zPnkjjR1gIKBL2pLt9NBKEhB19yfq07vQJ09ZlQj9zfFhHu_kkDu4veC06Cl-xZbMj13iTb_gkmWBwQIWgg0deq54u92/s1600/Blue_candles_on_birthday_cake.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;133&quot; n4=&quot;true&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuuvr40xWuUiouiDngr0qIt_j2kEf6KvYHDPg2ckP3zXNIYL1-zPnkjjR1gIKBL2pLt9NBKEhB19yfq07vQJ09ZlQj9zfFhHu_kkDu4veC06Cl-xZbMj13iTb_gkmWBwQIWgg0deq54u92/s200/Blue_candles_on_birthday_cake.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;p$1&gt;My birthday is on&amp;nbsp;a Monday, a normal workday, and a proposal&amp;nbsp;deadline. Albeit, I am determined to have a good day.&lt;br /&gt;
232. <br />
233. <p$1><p$1><strong>A Little Indulgance</strong> <br />
234. I plan on enjoying croissants and fruit for breakfast, a visit to Starbucks for a seasonal eggnog latte treat, and then, after I survive a crazy day of work, going out with my family for sushi for dinner. Oh, and maybe enjoy a mocha, mud pie (anyone know where I can get one of those) for dessert, because, hey, why not indulge for the day? I am also hoping that Mr/s Weatherperson gives us give us the forecast of a 30 degree drop from today's 80 degree temperature so that I can wear my favorite sweater tomorrow.<br />
235. <br />
236. </p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1><strong>Manic Mondays</strong><br />
237. </p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1>I remember a birthday that fell on a Monday while I was at college. My birthday always falls on finals week and due to the craziness of that time, no one would remember that it was my birthday. That particular year, I had three finals on my birthday; the first one was scheduled for 7am. On top of the full day, I had another final set for early the next day that I had to still study for that. In between finals, I sat on the curb and cried. Cried my heart out because I was so exhausted and I thought I had just flunked my first final. I pulled myself together, got up and went back to my dorm room to study when I saw the big sheet, birthday cake on my desk from my mom; big enough to share with everyone on that floor. My mom came through. She also gave me a sweater as a gift, and, if you knew me at all you would know that, I love my sweaters (and why do I live in this warm weather climate again?). <br />
238. </p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1><strong></strong><br />
239. <br />
240. <strong>Those Young People Think They are so Cool and All</strong><br />
241. </p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1>Celebrating another birthday is getting more, and more, difficult as time passes. I'm getting older and I am having a difficult time accepting that fact. Age has such a stigma and the younger look up to the older with less respect. How do we get around falling into society's trap that "younger is better"? <br />
242. <br />
243. </p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1><strong>Childlike Excitement</strong><br />
244. </p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1>For my kids' birthdays I fill their rooms with the number of balloons of their age so they can wake up to those colorful, floating material all around them. Then we make a breakfast of their choice and go out or make a dinner of their own selection. They open their presents in the morning and I hang a big "Happy Birthday" Scooby Doo sign in the dinning room. We try to make such a big deal about celebrating them and their lives each year. They can't wait to grow another year older. My eight year old can't wait to turn nine because eight was the longest year of his life. What happened to our little child excitement on a our very special day? </p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1><strong></strong><br />
245. <br />
246. <strong>Beauty from the Inside Out!</strong><br />
247. </p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1>As adults we have to face that we are getting older and we still have to go to work and meet deadlines even on the day we were born. And plus, we are feeling old, cranky, and achy, although I'm determined to stay up past 9:30pm.<br />
248. <br />
249. <p$1><p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1></p$1><p$1><p$1><strong><em>We all work so hard to loose weight, whiten our teeth, visit the dermatologist more frequently, buy more expensive face creams, and color our hair every six weeks, but what are we doing to grow more mature, to be more loving, to learn life lessons, to grow more beautiful on the inside?</em></strong><br />
250. <br />
251. <p$1><p$1>I know that our attitudes about age really affect our here and now and I'm determined to celebrate life daily. <strong><span style="color: #741b47;">How do you approach each birthday? With dread or celebration? How do you celebrate you?</span></strong><br />
252. <br />
253. <p$1><p$1><strong>Here is to another birthday; a year committed to working on an eternal beauty, striving for what is not of this world, an inner being that radiates love, and an attitude that is willing to forgive. Here is to looking our very best than ever before from the inside and out! Here is to another year of life.</strong><br />
254. <br />
255. &lt;/p$1&gt;&lt;/p$1&gt;&lt;p$1&gt;&lt;p$1&gt;PS While I am still trying to embrace life and enjoy every moment in the here in now,&amp;nbsp;I&#39;m still going to&amp;nbsp;start fibbing about my age, starting next year.&lt;/p$1&gt;&lt;/p$1&gt;&lt;/p$1&gt;&lt;/p$1&gt;&lt;/p$1&gt;&lt;/p$1&gt;&lt;/p$1&gt;&lt;/p$1&gt;&lt;/p$1&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/8169435358381773449/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/12/another-birthday-another-attitude.html#comment-form' title='10 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/8169435358381773449'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/8169435358381773449'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/12/another-birthday-another-attitude.html' title='Another Birthday. Another Attitude Change. Another Day to Celebrate Life.'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuuvr40xWuUiouiDngr0qIt_j2kEf6KvYHDPg2ckP3zXNIYL1-zPnkjjR1gIKBL2pLt9NBKEhB19yfq07vQJ09ZlQj9zfFhHu_kkDu4veC06Cl-xZbMj13iTb_gkmWBwQIWgg0deq54u92/s72-c/Blue_candles_on_birthday_cake.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>10</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-5705792007428989090</id><published>2010-10-28T20:37:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-10-29T22:04:27.284-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Book"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Writing"/><title type='text'>A Little Peek Into What I&#39;ve Been Working On</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNFUHIv7vMC21XUOe6VgQABcoPF4nFiQh8xGvFdTOCjd1TFoTqhQ0NoIwm-Q2yV62aySDpfTTqmrc_K_hHB_hC7MPlbk0eqRSwul5U4vUMLF0YJyYjJ43-7IMeJ7gDRC5nhkRNvsZxn4T/s1600/upsideDownBook.gif&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;141&quot; nx=&quot;true&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNFUHIv7vMC21XUOe6VgQABcoPF4nFiQh8xGvFdTOCjd1TFoTqhQ0NoIwm-Q2yV62aySDpfTTqmrc_K_hHB_hC7MPlbk0eqRSwul5U4vUMLF0YJyYjJ43-7IMeJ7gDRC5nhkRNvsZxn4T/s200/upsideDownBook.gif&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;If you didn&#39;t already know, I am currently working on a novel. I thought it was about time that I share more about this book with you. Here it is in a nut shell:&lt;br /&gt;
256. <br />
257. <blockquote><strong>Nice to Meet You Marcos</strong><br />
258. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(available for preview, hopefully, later in 2011)</span><br />
259. <br />
260. This book has two main characters who couldn't be farther apart economically as well as geographically, living on opposite sides of the city. <br />
261. <br />
262. Evelyn consumed with eating right, daily exercise, and the latest fashion is also opinionated and would do just about anything to advance in business. She works at a large firm and is determined to take her boss' job by the end of the year. Her husband is at the end of his medical internship and together they live an easy life of simple luxury. <br />
263. <br />
264. At age 20, Santiago provides for this family the only way he knows how, by trading drugs. Caught up in the Mexican mafia he lost sight of the world around him but he did what he could to make sure his family was cared for at any cost. His family, broken in so many ways, leads Santiago in a hopeless situation. It is his comrade, Ruben, who would keep by his side through thick and thin. <br />
265. <br />
266. Although Evelyn and Santiago&#39;s lives were extreme from each other and their paths never cross, both their lives were changed by one little boy named Marcos.&lt;/blockquote&gt;So, what do you think? Would you read this book?</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/5705792007428989090/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-peek-into-what-ive-been-working.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/5705792007428989090'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/5705792007428989090'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/10/little-peek-into-what-ive-been-working.html' title='A Little Peek Into What I&#39;ve Been Working On'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNFUHIv7vMC21XUOe6VgQABcoPF4nFiQh8xGvFdTOCjd1TFoTqhQ0NoIwm-Q2yV62aySDpfTTqmrc_K_hHB_hC7MPlbk0eqRSwul5U4vUMLF0YJyYjJ43-7IMeJ7gDRC5nhkRNvsZxn4T/s72-c/upsideDownBook.gif" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-4954423395584866867</id><published>2010-10-19T20:37:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-10-20T20:34:58.801-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Friends"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Friendships"/><title type='text'>The Controversy Continues</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style=&quot;border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;&quot;&gt;This summer I slacked off a bit on updating my blog (can you believe it?). When I was ready to start paying attention and getting back into the weekly routine of posting, I thought I should check in to see how the blog was doing -&amp;nbsp;was it still alive and breathing and was anyone&amp;nbsp;still reading it?&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
267. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Well, low, and behold the report read that my blog readership went up 250% this summer! Holy Moly! So then I did some investigating work to figure out what was going on and what post people were reading. Sure enough there were two posts that were still alive and kicking. It was one post in particular that was getting the majority of the readers.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
268. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2009/02/i-dont-agree-with-you-carolyn-hax-on.html">I Don't Agree With You Carolyn Hax on "Why don't friends with kids have time?"</a> has continued to be a controversial article and no one can really agree. I wrote it back in February of 2009, but somehow this post keeps living on.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
269. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisLDQ1ENyakKlJ6up5JPqrMdIPyoaRgAW06-7QXuhEdXQvO4IB9TBQCghJ264y6Kd6gaL-jyTERlohg-RsFHKNzQwQ39APamPji3KQPwlCqBfHYzSkkGFN8NtVuJ-elP4cHwOfeh2OkjkK/s1600/pumpkin%2520clipart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisLDQ1ENyakKlJ6up5JPqrMdIPyoaRgAW06-7QXuhEdXQvO4IB9TBQCghJ264y6Kd6gaL-jyTERlohg-RsFHKNzQwQ39APamPji3KQPwlCqBfHYzSkkGFN8NtVuJ-elP4cHwOfeh2OkjkK/s200/pumpkin%2520clipart.jpg" width="191" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Please visit the post and share your opinion. You can leave a comment in an alias, anonymous, or for goodness sake, your own real name. However you do it, I would love to hear from you.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
270. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Next week I will share my follow up comment.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
271. &lt;/div&gt;Until then, enjoy the October weather.</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/4954423395584866867/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/10/controversy-continues.html#comment-form' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/4954423395584866867'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/4954423395584866867'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/10/controversy-continues.html' title='The Controversy Continues'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisLDQ1ENyakKlJ6up5JPqrMdIPyoaRgAW06-7QXuhEdXQvO4IB9TBQCghJ264y6Kd6gaL-jyTERlohg-RsFHKNzQwQ39APamPji3KQPwlCqBfHYzSkkGFN8NtVuJ-elP4cHwOfeh2OkjkK/s72-c/pumpkin%2520clipart.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-4054207010419380824</id><published>2010-10-05T19:09:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-10-05T19:09:15.263-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Kids"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="recipes"/><title type='text'>Great Finds at Trader Joe&#39;s</title><content type='html'>My family and I just love shopping at Trader Joe&#39;s and it is a big bonus that we live just a couple blocks away from one. As regular costumers of the store we still keep finding new and yummy (my apologies for using this way over-used word - but it is fitting) foods.&lt;br /&gt;
272. <br />
273. This is what it says on their site: "The thrill of discovery? We believe you can never get enough of it. That's why we are dedicated to continuously creating exciting, delicious products that you can discover at your neighborhood TJ's."<br />
274. <br />
275. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFDV7_2arazivNqL66Z-W6D3YPOJP098a24ZSK1PjVJaOqVJVtZKKKGtZ7lovplMOc1RHCtr1zx0hiXiFTdeGm5a9uMz34ZzDZ4q02I4xxLjEnVmTSztKhn6XPAg_1v2lRn68O9VTpE7d/s1600/Trader+Joe's+Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="109" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFDV7_2arazivNqL66Z-W6D3YPOJP098a24ZSK1PjVJaOqVJVtZKKKGtZ7lovplMOc1RHCtr1zx0hiXiFTdeGm5a9uMz34ZzDZ4q02I4xxLjEnVmTSztKhn6XPAg_1v2lRn68O9VTpE7d/s200/Trader+Joe's+Logo.png" width="200" /></a></div>So if you shop at a Trader Joe's in your town, what kind of great finds have you discovered lately? Here are some of mine:<br />
276. <br />
277. <ul><li><strong>Applesauce Crushers</strong> ~ I took my older son to the store with me and he doesn't usually look around, but on that particular day he discovered these crushers. They come in a tube and have a twist top. It looked healthy enough so I went ahead and bought it. Turns out both my boys love it and it is perfect to put in their lunches because it doesn't require a spoon or take on a soccer day so they can eat between games. They even like the carrot one! Here is what Trader Joe's has to say about their item:</li>
278. </ul><blockquote>Enhancing the convenience of the consumption of applesauce has challenged applesauce purveyors throughout the ages. We’ve crushed that challenge. How? With our Applesauce Crushers. We’ve taken all natural applesauce and packaged it in unique pouches that allow you to squeeze, squish, crush the delicious fruit sauces straight into your mouth. Yes! Right into your mouth – no spoon is necessary. Made just for us in France, these unique snack pouches are perfect for lunch boxes, briefcases and slip into a decent sized pocket with ease. Kids love to crush ‘em! And could there be a more fun way to get a good supply of Vitamin C? Doubtful. Each package of four 3.17 oz. pouches of Applesauce or Apple Carrot Fruit Sauce Crushers is $2.99. </blockquote><blockquote>Serving Size: 1 pouch, Servings per Container 4<br />
279. Amount Per Serving: Calories 50 Calories from Fat 0</blockquote><ul><li><strong>Baker Josef's, Semi-Sweet chocolate Callets</strong> (for baking, melting, & nibbling) ~ If you are a chocolate chip and dip in peanut butter eater, this is for you. They are callets firm enough to dip into the peanut butter and requires no spoon. There is also a chocolate mouse recipe on back that I want to try.</li>
280. &lt;/ul&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Please share with us some of your finds at Trader Joe&#39;s or any other interesting food speciality store in your neighborhood.&lt;/strong&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/4054207010419380824/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/10/great-finds-at-trader-joes.html#comment-form' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/4054207010419380824'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/4054207010419380824'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/10/great-finds-at-trader-joes.html' title='Great Finds at Trader Joe&#39;s'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFDV7_2arazivNqL66Z-W6D3YPOJP098a24ZSK1PjVJaOqVJVtZKKKGtZ7lovplMOc1RHCtr1zx0hiXiFTdeGm5a9uMz34ZzDZ4q02I4xxLjEnVmTSztKhn6XPAg_1v2lRn68O9VTpE7d/s72-c/Trader+Joe&#39;s+Logo.png" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-296815455372788281</id><published>2010-09-24T23:24:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-09-25T17:52:18.124-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Age"/><title type='text'>Agelessness</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_e6GcsNBsuy4BeIFkT8emrHJubripPFMYtkNFpqy38V6Wlb5h4wLysfAdoU2F95vS-7CsX6Gu0Ovhetp0bnmaZEO_fjSiMkECQkwAqZwKF_BY5Z4PfZNxa2aRJXkIhfNU4fK9uhhrwIs3/s1600/hourglass.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; px=&quot;true&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_e6GcsNBsuy4BeIFkT8emrHJubripPFMYtkNFpqy38V6Wlb5h4wLysfAdoU2F95vS-7CsX6Gu0Ovhetp0bnmaZEO_fjSiMkECQkwAqZwKF_BY5Z4PfZNxa2aRJXkIhfNU4fK9uhhrwIs3/s200/hourglass.jpg&quot; width=&quot;165&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Some people try to act and look&amp;nbsp;younger than they are by wearing trendy clothes such as big bows in their hair or leggings and a shirt that doesn&#39;t quite cover their posterior end - and frankly sometimes the trendy styles can make us&amp;nbsp;look older&amp;nbsp;(okay, I finally had to give up my low-slung jeans because I have a &quot;slight&quot; belt overhang - bit embarrassing). &lt;br /&gt;
281. <br />
282. And then there are those who act older than they are complaining about aches and pains and how old they are when they are only 40 for Pete's sake (eh hem, don't look over here, I can embrace that I'm over 30 - but that's all, don't ask for any older okay?).<br />
283. <br />
284. Why can't people just accept themselves for the age that they are today? It seems that life always looks sweeter before or after our current age.<br />
285. <br />
286. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhzApvQbfiUTu99da98BQ-blMtMS1harLzsBEV2Vbh-HraHsB6pOx1Rb8N7addI-QpFJQzaYbCRem671UVR1tlq84h3Lp7bzcae68BdO1GJe8KfQFe6FcNdS7lvTCEvD3RWnq2yIlomXT/s1600/book_youngagain.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhzApvQbfiUTu99da98BQ-blMtMS1harLzsBEV2Vbh-HraHsB6pOx1Rb8N7addI-QpFJQzaYbCRem671UVR1tlq84h3Lp7bzcae68BdO1GJe8KfQFe6FcNdS7lvTCEvD3RWnq2yIlomXT/s200/book_youngagain.gif" width="126" /></a></div>As we live in a world filled with social conscienceness, intoxicated by the issues of age and beauty, we all know society is more accepting of the younger generation. They are, by the way, the generation we see graced on billboards and in magazines wearing bikinis and glamorous clothes with the flawless skin and skinny legs. The older generation that we see are wearing blazers and button up shirts and talking politics. <br />
287. <br />
288. A friend of mine gave me about five magazines to peruse since she had already finished thumbing through the pages. Just reading the cover titles screamed of anti-aging! Some cover headlines read, "Look Younger Now!" "Smoother skin, fewer lines, anti-aging vitamins," "Tone every bulge," "Anti-aging secrets nobody tells you." It is all the big topic on how to fool the public on your REAL age.<br />
289. <br />
290. We also see all those 40+ year old celebraties that look amazingly young and we think if they can do it why can't we? We forget they make a lot more money than we do and can afford the creams, and in-house yoga classes, and Whole Foods super markets. They also seem to have more time between filming to exercise. In addition to all that they also have a stylist for goodness sake (and someone cleaning their house I'm sure).<br />
291. <br />
292. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUYnDlN-V9bCCLTrbJ_FxAgU-HQXHzWOzSNxPSgILsFCqMnpp9XDtv5LGBMTh-b_fufTc6y1gIf9AGEBIgAswKXsTSImydeW6BbKIVTSexaXIaEbWZQQXqlAcX9WF-j4Ex8UxAH_7tc5v/s1600/agelessness_banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTUYnDlN-V9bCCLTrbJ_FxAgU-HQXHzWOzSNxPSgILsFCqMnpp9XDtv5LGBMTh-b_fufTc6y1gIf9AGEBIgAswKXsTSImydeW6BbKIVTSexaXIaEbWZQQXqlAcX9WF-j4Ex8UxAH_7tc5v/s320/agelessness_banner.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>How much effort should we really take to achieve "agelessness?"<br />
293. <br />
294. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckJMtsqJ8xlCh3iAgYToPTufwOBunpEGN711xoqa6uBAQUms-kNfW3b6RfTc2DuV-TvbU9IcKSACN19tSVSb2m5iMpx_mMHJxzDDPIJM6NRamqDx84JW_rTCfqxiy-dTlta53eLqxDOXp/s1600/ageless_face_cream.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhckJMtsqJ8xlCh3iAgYToPTufwOBunpEGN711xoqa6uBAQUms-kNfW3b6RfTc2DuV-TvbU9IcKSACN19tSVSb2m5iMpx_mMHJxzDDPIJM6NRamqDx84JW_rTCfqxiy-dTlta53eLqxDOXp/s200/ageless_face_cream.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>To keep our weight off we have to exercise double the time in the gym than our twenty-year-old counterparts. We also have to eliminate bread, red meat, sodas, and all the sweets from our diet to keep the inches off our waist. To keep our smooth skin and subtle lines we need to do a six-step process every morning and every night - taking up precious sleep time. We also have to keep updated on fashion by scouring those magazines with those young skinny girls in it making us completely depressed and frustrated with how we look ourselves. <br />
295. <br />
296. Striving for an "ageless" look is a full-time job! But what about our money-making "real" full-time job, our husband, and two kids? What about soccer practice and soccer games, drama classes and play practice, how about homework, playdates, and youth group? What about our husband's schedule, working late nights or going out of town, or just having date nights? What about the book to write or read, coffee with girlfriends, volunteering at church, cleaning our house, or running our dog? What about life? How can we exercise, eat right, buy expensive product, and stay in fashion all the same time?<br />
297. <br />
298. <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEm_v2E47XwKkOkyK5rI5XHyT5te2pwj1986IPZGqkg7wJ7pacTplv_ST6JtwxhgyTt-zIn36qqQIIQM9qM7IR0-BRtCWwHe0c_pXjCbc22DqXx03hwXSm2-C33QPx0Uwj-h6mIINEyWqH/s1600/beauty+in+age_cup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEm_v2E47XwKkOkyK5rI5XHyT5te2pwj1986IPZGqkg7wJ7pacTplv_ST6JtwxhgyTt-zIn36qqQIIQM9qM7IR0-BRtCWwHe0c_pXjCbc22DqXx03hwXSm2-C33QPx0Uwj-h6mIINEyWqH/s200/beauty+in+age_cup.jpg" width="200" /></a><strong>We can't do it all! What is your idea of "agelessness" and how far will you go to achieve it? Of the four means of achieving this younger look, which is the most important to you?</strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
299. </div>So if you want instant youthfulness without all the hassle, just pull out your scissors and snip some bangs. But then again, some beauty comes with, well let me try to say this gently, age.<br />
300. <br />
301. We can&#39;t forget to live life - if we forget that, what is the purpose of looking &quot;ageless&quot; anyway?</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/296815455372788281/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/09/agelessness.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/296815455372788281'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/296815455372788281'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/09/agelessness.html' title='Agelessness'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_e6GcsNBsuy4BeIFkT8emrHJubripPFMYtkNFpqy38V6Wlb5h4wLysfAdoU2F95vS-7CsX6Gu0Ovhetp0bnmaZEO_fjSiMkECQkwAqZwKF_BY5Z4PfZNxa2aRJXkIhfNU4fK9uhhrwIs3/s72-c/hourglass.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-6486934367989798595</id><published>2010-09-11T14:04:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-09-12T17:19:17.440-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Kids"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="school"/><title type='text'>The First Week of School &amp; Other Indicators of Growing Up</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqWNw2ofDhmTBIdHJBAlj8hg2pHV0lvJVMSIRbQARhAxS0vTJz3Vin_cA0R8UNRIThmFZ2NLmKrSpGroesG-Lt4BPKrrmZfHfxtDVE6eoXFw4G5k7j3WaD8jKVrrtYp9D7YJJEffCCcGfD/s1600/school4c.gif&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;131&quot; ox=&quot;true&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqWNw2ofDhmTBIdHJBAlj8hg2pHV0lvJVMSIRbQARhAxS0vTJz3Vin_cA0R8UNRIThmFZ2NLmKrSpGroesG-Lt4BPKrrmZfHfxtDVE6eoXFw4G5k7j3WaD8jKVrrtYp9D7YJJEffCCcGfD/s200/school4c.gif&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;It doesn’t seem so long ago that I took my eldest child to his first week of kindergarten and here this week, in a blink of an eye, I have released that same child to his first week of middle school. How could that be? How can time pass so quickly?&lt;br /&gt;
302. <br />
303. <br />
304. <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-small;">Here are two articles that I wrote about that very experience of releasing my child to kindergarten. <br />
305. <a href="http://www.lajollalight.com/news/222829-preparing-your-child-and-your-family-for-school">Article 1</a>. <a href="http://www.lajollalight.com/news/224113-preparing-your-child-and-your-family-for-school">Article 2.</a></span></div><br />
306. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZnzQlFR7KvXccfIkAdmh82V5HUc-CVAcHvTpvXyqkDl7QsqRXy0MbMB3DR3xiR47B8t138BLtOPoj4zSeLFCScz2YcurjpXj76X1kIiTNxslFd4NVy37ZkPkruMn7hqd-ZcpHJd0HwVD/s1600/schoolMagnets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZnzQlFR7KvXccfIkAdmh82V5HUc-CVAcHvTpvXyqkDl7QsqRXy0MbMB3DR3xiR47B8t138BLtOPoj4zSeLFCScz2YcurjpXj76X1kIiTNxslFd4NVy37ZkPkruMn7hqd-ZcpHJd0HwVD/s200/schoolMagnets.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>The memory of that chubby boy whose pants never stayed up and he showed his little butt crack all day, who hated to color and loved to sit and read about <em>Tacky the Penguin</em> and <em>Horton Hears a Who</em>, now meets his friends at 6:50 am and rides his bike to school. He no longer is chubby, but his legs are skinny and his body is trying to stretch and grow out of it’s child-like build – although his face is still cute and round , it still reminds me of that same five year old from six years ago.<br />
307. <br />
308. For the past eight years I have escorted him to his classes, waited for the bell to ring and saw him off to class and waited at that same door for him to come out. It was difficult to release him to school when he was in pre-school and kindergarten and now it is difficult to release him to moments of freedom, time away from me at middle school.<br />
309. <br />
310. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQiL4DCU_iV9jPtmXm8aAxX_145nzfdAH4_E4-gBsXqt0bA4uwXf1wdxT23pq_2sdetyRiTm29e0FfbaamPWEESlhhwQ3KgoG7GUYH50ydG-SIRcqpFHHfSS_rPgi0owhauKQEyGMMeFkr/s1600/backpack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQiL4DCU_iV9jPtmXm8aAxX_145nzfdAH4_E4-gBsXqt0bA4uwXf1wdxT23pq_2sdetyRiTm29e0FfbaamPWEESlhhwQ3KgoG7GUYH50ydG-SIRcqpFHHfSS_rPgi0owhauKQEyGMMeFkr/s200/backpack.jpg" width="148" /></a></div>He loves his moments of freedom, riding his bike with friends away from parents and then meeting his friends after school riding back to his friend’s house. On the first day of his new found freedom he and his friends decided to ride their bike to a local neighborhood park after school and then onto a friends house in the neighborhood. They lost track of time. I waited 45 minutes for them. No call, no text, no message of his whereabouts. They stayed together and stayed within the close-knit neighborhood, but saying I’m used to walking him to class and picking him up from class, this new short-leashed freedom will take getting used to for all of us.<br />
311. <br />
312. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1bIsNKPAzAQ_J-tPJBXtZ3jOdRPvxZ4sH31W1iO_etoKCNzTlrs3QujkiC5WSuuHgJzglHI6VueLOYi0pyn48eyzXn2843fucsfyxBVdnB91DaWyfai_DvILr0Ag78fZlwITeW0MKLoax/s1600/pirate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1bIsNKPAzAQ_J-tPJBXtZ3jOdRPvxZ4sH31W1iO_etoKCNzTlrs3QujkiC5WSuuHgJzglHI6VueLOYi0pyn48eyzXn2843fucsfyxBVdnB91DaWyfai_DvILr0Ag78fZlwITeW0MKLoax/s200/pirate.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>One thing I realized about having a child of drop offs and pick ups, my son doesn’t know the concept of time. When he stepped out of class at the end of the day-there I was. Soccer practice finished and there I was to pick him up. Drama class started and there I was dropping him off. I have gladly escorted him through his life and now I must release him to his own responsibilities. He needs to get to school and then to six different classes and then to our after-school meeting place all on his own accord. This time in life is when I must trust in him and the lessons my husband and I have instilled in him over all these years.<br />
313. <br />
314. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_p7gZE-cOd7BncY8Qj-6A6NUBETKapEb0m46-9CORpkDZFCw4m1CPb_hVDP10yinP91fNEL9ukT3hyphenhyphen4CeRdVfhc2NS-L17YC9UE4ioj0lc459TdZuYn67kTccG-3VEtNvyIIl9yt9yxK/s1600/bobcat_clipart.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_p7gZE-cOd7BncY8Qj-6A6NUBETKapEb0m46-9CORpkDZFCw4m1CPb_hVDP10yinP91fNEL9ukT3hyphenhyphen4CeRdVfhc2NS-L17YC9UE4ioj0lc459TdZuYn67kTccG-3VEtNvyIIl9yt9yxK/s200/bobcat_clipart.gif" width="200" /></a></div>My son enjoyed his first week of school and welcomes some of those challenging classes, but he was surprised by one aspect of the middle school students: their salty language. On the first day of school, his friend was called a double cuss word. When students stub their toe they shout out exploitatives. Even in casual conversation they will drop the “d word,” the “f word,” the “s word,” and whatever other questionable words. Cussing is all around on campus and no one is there to shut them up. A fight might disputes, I’m sure a teacher will be there to break it up – but other than that our sixth graders are away from the comfortable and secure elementary school campus. And we all know middle schoolers use foul language more than the rest of the world. Why? Because they are pretending to be all grown up with their new found freedom using “grown up” words and yet they are revealing their immaturity with inappropriate language. (So, I can't really afford to send them to private school and I'm not of the proper makeup to homeschool, so my children must learn at home how to survive such situations away from home.)<br />
315. <br />
316. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_btI9jKLrieY/TIvtEllgiMI/AAAAAAAAAkA/a03YhMRbk54/s1600/MSstudent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_btI9jKLrieY/TIvtEllgiMI/AAAAAAAAAkA/a03YhMRbk54/s200/MSstudent.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>The first week of middle school, or kindergarten, high school, and certainly the first week of college for that matter, is a reminder that our role as parents are very important and all those years of hovering, correcting, and loving will reveal themselves (we hope and pray) when our children are released to those moments of freedom and enabled to make choices on their own.<br />
317. <br />
318. <strong><span style="color: #073763;">What challenges or milestones have you experienced lately with your child(ren)?</span></strong><br />
319. <br />
320. <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Horton: There's a tiny person on that speck that needs my help! </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">________________________________________</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
321. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Horton: I meant what I said, and I said what I meant. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
322. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Morton: [sighs] An elephant's faithful one hundred percent. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
323. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Horton: That's my code, my motto. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
324. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">_______________________________________</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
325. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Katie: In my world everyone is a pony, and they all eat rainbows, and poop butterflies.</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Horton Hears A Who - movie</span></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br />
326. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;font-size: x-small;&quot;&gt;&quot;Tacky was an odd bird, but a very nice bird to have around.&quot; ~ Tacky the Penguin&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/6486934367989798595/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/09/first-week-of-school-other-indicators.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/6486934367989798595'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/6486934367989798595'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/09/first-week-of-school-other-indicators.html' title='The First Week of School &amp; Other Indicators of Growing Up'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqWNw2ofDhmTBIdHJBAlj8hg2pHV0lvJVMSIRbQARhAxS0vTJz3Vin_cA0R8UNRIThmFZ2NLmKrSpGroesG-Lt4BPKrrmZfHfxtDVE6eoXFw4G5k7j3WaD8jKVrrtYp9D7YJJEffCCcGfD/s72-c/school4c.gif" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-2894579812366266360</id><published>2010-08-28T03:32:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-08-28T03:37:12.229-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="beach"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Family"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Games"/><title type='text'>&quot;Feel Extreme Enough?&quot; Then Go Out and Play</title><content type='html'>I live seven blocks from the beach and have gone down to the ocean only three times this summer. Pity, I know. &lt;br /&gt;
327. <br />
328. Excuses for not getting down there more often are (1) it has been colder than usual weather lately and (2) if it is warm I am usually too busy to enjoy the weather on the sandy beaches. <br />
329. <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
330. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkU0hLd-ta53F8B79WcOHeq1i4ghxtDYBT0bIfvFGAS0GqwJdAkdIF_4OkqAx5MtjG2g-27FonS8eTdXwkoBMvOhv-LDkVRDH2r5R9f_A5jb5sxmRUpMqY1-H87KGeO4Pxm_67h6CUuqt/s1600/Waboba.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkU0hLd-ta53F8B79WcOHeq1i4ghxtDYBT0bIfvFGAS0GqwJdAkdIF_4OkqAx5MtjG2g-27FonS8eTdXwkoBMvOhv-LDkVRDH2r5R9f_A5jb5sxmRUpMqY1-H87KGeO4Pxm_67h6CUuqt/s200/Waboba.jpg" width="143" /></a>Last weekend was an exception and my family and I enjoyed the sun and the waves on our lazy Sunday afternoon.</div><br />
331. We have fun playing frisbee and smash ball out on the beach and of course gliding along on our boogie boards, but we have found a new game to play: the Waboba. The game consists of a ball that is so small that it would fit in your swimsuit pocket, if you had one of those pockets. <br />
332. <br />
333. So, what, you might ask, is a Waboba? Yes, the Waboba, "the ball that bounces on water."<br />
334. <br />
335. The ball has a polymere and elastan coating (I looked it up) and filled with polymere gel. To play with your Waboba, simply walk out about knee deep into the ocean and throw it across so that it bounces on the water between you and a friend (or son in my case) and attempt to grab it with one hand which might include diving into the water for your "extreme catch." Try throwing it different angles, bouncing it on waves to watch which direction it will propel. And if your opponent doesn't catch it, don't worry, the ball floats. <br />
336. <br />
337. We have never seen anyone else play with one out there at the beach, but it is great fun and I think it is every beach goers requirement to keep the ball in their beach bag along side their sun tan lotion. <br />
338. <br />
339. We found this item on the checkout counter of "Play It Again Sports," but you can find it at: <a href="http://www.waboba.com/">http://www.waboba.com/</a><br />
340. <br />
341. So go out there and be &quot;extreme&quot; and play yourself some Waboba. &quot;Master it!&quot;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/2894579812366266360/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/08/feel-extreme-enough-then-go-out-and.html#comment-form' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/2894579812366266360'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/2894579812366266360'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/08/feel-extreme-enough-then-go-out-and.html' title='&quot;Feel Extreme Enough?&quot; Then Go Out and Play'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkU0hLd-ta53F8B79WcOHeq1i4ghxtDYBT0bIfvFGAS0GqwJdAkdIF_4OkqAx5MtjG2g-27FonS8eTdXwkoBMvOhv-LDkVRDH2r5R9f_A5jb5sxmRUpMqY1-H87KGeO4Pxm_67h6CUuqt/s72-c/Waboba.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-3671118043786045424</id><published>2010-08-21T00:08:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-08-21T15:56:50.176-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="camping"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="summer"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="vacation"/><title type='text'>The Last Days of Summer</title><content type='html'>Well I am back from a little, unofficial, unplanned, vacation, of sorts, from blogging. I missed you all and sorry for not keeping up, but I really do have lots more conversation ideas to post so keep with me!&lt;br /&gt;
342. <br />
343. HWY 1<br />
344. <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSkkwnIvGM4qx7gwh7gc6eOQo3SYj9MhBIkHbutFIhwqKFVnyPRGBxWuWQujfhV82Lw4ZQ1GlOsyPKKTJK3rIBArznLFilG6bqSdA8MIRVj5TuEj6KwkEf2rAX0-vh1A_IMl62dogWod4/s1600/highway-1-california-coast-pic_fs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSkkwnIvGM4qx7gwh7gc6eOQo3SYj9MhBIkHbutFIhwqKFVnyPRGBxWuWQujfhV82Lw4ZQ1GlOsyPKKTJK3rIBArznLFilG6bqSdA8MIRVj5TuEj6KwkEf2rAX0-vh1A_IMl62dogWod4/s200/highway-1-california-coast-pic_fs.jpg" width="200" /></a>Last year, my family didn't take any summer vacations and it was the longest summer ever. This year we have two planned. Last month we took a car trip up the Hwy 1 for a week. We visited the Danish town of Solvang, meandered through the Hearst "palace," watched the fish swim at Monterrey Aquarium, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, and enjoyed the big redwoods all the while camping every night at a new location. </div><br />
345. PACKING IT RIGHT<br />
346. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrdVGBAsh3mqP4lSqTMnqy5lItDG9RRJGMtstmHFCSy827kJDySARPeEdbunJrQQFoqlfYDP1XUA9s5Yoc1zmvny-wO64rqzT45puKXnlvBvkF2adO0ftbtqiieIMaYiPRpUQu_aC4Q88c/s1600/familyVacationStackedCarClipArt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrdVGBAsh3mqP4lSqTMnqy5lItDG9RRJGMtstmHFCSy827kJDySARPeEdbunJrQQFoqlfYDP1XUA9s5Yoc1zmvny-wO64rqzT45puKXnlvBvkF2adO0ftbtqiieIMaYiPRpUQu_aC4Q88c/s200/familyVacationStackedCarClipArt.jpg" width="176" /></a></div>That is right, we fit everything: four suitcases, four sleeping bags, two foam pads (for sleeping on), a four-person tent, lots of food and snacks, and a very large ice chest in a regular sized car - with no luggage racks. Yes, that was art at its best. We slept somewhere different every night and my husband artfully packed and unpacked everyday. We needed a vacation after our vacation - we were exhausted.<br />
347. <br />
348. ONE MORE WEEK<br />
349. But, we are not done vacationing. We have one more week and we are going to YOSEMITE! Yes, we booked our reservations back in March and at that time did a frantic rush of selecting our sites before they were all taken away right before our eyes (craziness online, I tell ya). So, we have to go.<br />
350. <br />
351. IN NEED OF CAMPING TIPS<br />
352. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemCa-yFJBVZo74SR7BAtoeHPS7BI7au1tMfsVIa2y3B-BAj2k6AzSvt6w0P8n0P5-MKnmam_M35kmXFcL64DV8oK8PAcaytBDG8VCIokzA48Iy9lEElib2knFwVltDUWXB9KfICZDQ6Fe/s1600/camping%2520logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="144" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgemCa-yFJBVZo74SR7BAtoeHPS7BI7au1tMfsVIa2y3B-BAj2k6AzSvt6w0P8n0P5-MKnmam_M35kmXFcL64DV8oK8PAcaytBDG8VCIokzA48Iy9lEElib2knFwVltDUWXB9KfICZDQ6Fe/s200/camping%2520logo.png" width="200" /></a></div>Here is the big camping question: How do you wash your dishes at the campground? My husband is all about not leaving waste and has purchased silverware and dishes. Gone are the plastic utensils and paper plates (darn-it). Although very noble of him, very inconvenient for me. If you have any advice, please let me know.<br />
353. <br />
354. SON ON VACATION WITHOUT US<br />
355. Now my oldest son gets to go on a vacation - apart from us. Tomorrow, sadly, I will bring my son over to a friend's house and he will be staying at a cabin, hanging out at a lake, swimming endlessly, and speeding along on a raft pulled by a boat all without me! For a week! It will be hard to say goodbye to him, but it will be even more difficult to accept that he is having fun with another family! Well, really, we are so thankful for this family and for them being willing to take him along (I sure hope he takes his plates to the sink and all that we have been "training" him to do over the years. Now is the true test of our parenting!)<br />
356. <br />
357. &lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsm1jYYeadAagbVW2CbxgQP0a9UWHzWpjIFuIZRHaU80i3YWFFFXEp3D7vW9pX1Nb3_P9AQDLrt1ZYgU6bthmIyoQF4y0hnxCdILkG41QDBKrbNMYbvB0wOj5Fe_eurk8euRY_ma4lfB8A/s1600/SummerSun.gif&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;173&quot; ox=&quot;true&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsm1jYYeadAagbVW2CbxgQP0a9UWHzWpjIFuIZRHaU80i3YWFFFXEp3D7vW9pX1Nb3_P9AQDLrt1ZYgU6bthmIyoQF4y0hnxCdILkG41QDBKrbNMYbvB0wOj5Fe_eurk8euRY_ma4lfB8A/s200/SummerSun.gif&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;So, here is to the last days of summer. When we return, we can talk about AGELESSNESS. Until then ~ Happy Summering!</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/3671118043786045424/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/08/last-days-of-summer.html#comment-form' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/3671118043786045424'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/3671118043786045424'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/08/last-days-of-summer.html' title='The Last Days of Summer'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSkkwnIvGM4qx7gwh7gc6eOQo3SYj9MhBIkHbutFIhwqKFVnyPRGBxWuWQujfhV82Lw4ZQ1GlOsyPKKTJK3rIBArznLFilG6bqSdA8MIRVj5TuEj6KwkEf2rAX0-vh1A_IMl62dogWod4/s72-c/highway-1-california-coast-pic_fs.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-699016761855577338</id><published>2010-07-02T12:51:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-07-02T12:55:45.964-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Julie and Julia"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Life"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="living life"/><title type='text'>On Hold</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKG0XEY3VREWxAhyphenhyphendSWvj2udmnk6yTprWIZLyWdgLplRR90aO27xlwIlBOuM2ttrd6wvSKkkzC8F5p9jo6ihY4qihjLm9HV0xU_Mb6FT-8F8m0dlgqKo7PjKTgegAOwnHAcGc8Z7AWyZ6G/s1600/HouseClipart.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; rw=&quot;true&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKG0XEY3VREWxAhyphenhyphendSWvj2udmnk6yTprWIZLyWdgLplRR90aO27xlwIlBOuM2ttrd6wvSKkkzC8F5p9jo6ihY4qihjLm9HV0xU_Mb6FT-8F8m0dlgqKo7PjKTgegAOwnHAcGc8Z7AWyZ6G/s200/HouseClipart.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;We moved into our house a little over two years ago. We bought the place for a good price right before the house bust, but yet it still was a stretch for our budget. The advantage of the move was that my husband and I would be close to work (he rides his cruiser to work) and the boys would be close to their school and friends (they are “ choiced in” so we were driving a half hour to get them to school and we couldn’t participate in “playdates” with their classmates). &lt;br /&gt;
358. <br />
359. The house was a dump when we bought it. It had been neglected for years. A gentleman lived there who had diabetes and had turned blind. Inside the house lights and plumbing did not work. The rug had been pulled to reveal the wood floor, nails sticking out and all. The outside had dead grass, overgrown bushes, chipped paint that had been faded to another weird color, dirt grime lacing all the windows, and doors and the white edging were caked in black yuck.<br />
360. <br />
361. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbBYsVwqlnopVoYM5kRVNvyp6CyvWVECyUBoW-JNqy52oPzkeICXkHrPrbHzFnHrL-FbxMyXWviN6bT8V6WrjSHhMtuLabuw-O-9t-eiWVXS9UCVwczr4yxa3ZxvI_v6dtmKDKgwcX8u9/s1600/onHoldLarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="61" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikbBYsVwqlnopVoYM5kRVNvyp6CyvWVECyUBoW-JNqy52oPzkeICXkHrPrbHzFnHrL-FbxMyXWviN6bT8V6WrjSHhMtuLabuw-O-9t-eiWVXS9UCVwczr4yxa3ZxvI_v6dtmKDKgwcX8u9/s200/onHoldLarge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>First we pulled up the nails, painted the walls, brought in an electrician friend to put in lights and my husband and his friend crawled under the house and fixed the plumbing. That was a lot of work. Then life happened. Our second car was “totaled,” the boys’ sport expenses added up, and money was and is tight. I also just found out that our one and only car needs a new radiator and starter and the labor costs are out the roof. <br />
362. <br />
363. Two years later and we still have a lot blank walls and our house’s curb appeal is atroshises. I know when parent’s drop their kids off for a play date at our house they must be skeptical. It is a bit embarrassing for me at least. And it doesn’t look like the curb appeal will be approved anytime soon. We still have a laundry list of necessary things to do to make this house seem more like a home.<br />
364. <br />
365. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdxmv8Ybhw0mzvXu_UuLHk9Ftib2lYyS7SqkJ1N4N1m6jHItCObR3M_tgMjjM2C9Mue77dqsqvbn5u1kFam4yr8ELGij9TgzfDQ6ErXGRQ_WH94TxjsPwjiaOd1-y98rTZQ4copBMZz8E/s1600/messagesonhold+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdxmv8Ybhw0mzvXu_UuLHk9Ftib2lYyS7SqkJ1N4N1m6jHItCObR3M_tgMjjM2C9Mue77dqsqvbn5u1kFam4yr8ELGij9TgzfDQ6ErXGRQ_WH94TxjsPwjiaOd1-y98rTZQ4copBMZz8E/s200/messagesonhold+(2).jpg" width="200" /></a></div>It is not a sanctuary. There is no place to go here (except my bed) that seems comfortable or feels like an escape from the rest of the world. Our house is on hold. Our sanctuary is on temporary hold. We have a long way to go.<br />
366. <br />
367. Don’t you feel as if there are periods in your life that are on hold? We wait for our man or woman of our dreams to walk into our life, to get pregnant, to start our career, go back to school and finish our degree, to” due” our time in prison for a crime we did while young and negligent, to make friends while our kids are babies, for time to do our hobbies, to buy a house and stop paying rent, to retire so we can travel and see the world, to have a relationship with God when we get our lives “right.” While we keep our lives on hold, life can happen around us and we can miss out on something great.<br />
368. <br />
369. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlnFHwBQOYmOhBNYj1lU8mhQlFdqjnWDDkv2A54pg1fOLF8vBBR-Qs5v7PSF16oCsdefhYcS5EG9wPHZlzuSfH49E01aABnVYMnohuDJbV6KmOsnN-4_U8qOh2HmI5aIft3T_TFgOHTWvh/s1600/Amy_Adams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlnFHwBQOYmOhBNYj1lU8mhQlFdqjnWDDkv2A54pg1fOLF8vBBR-Qs5v7PSF16oCsdefhYcS5EG9wPHZlzuSfH49E01aABnVYMnohuDJbV6KmOsnN-4_U8qOh2HmI5aIft3T_TFgOHTWvh/s200/Amy_Adams.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I recently saw the movie “Leap Year.” I have seen Amy Adams in “Enchanted,” “Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day,” “Night @ the Museum” as Amelia Earhart, and as Julie in “Julie & Julia” (although I don’t think that was her best work), but I didn’t notice her in “Catch Me if You Can.” I just really like her so I looked her up online and found out a bit about her.<br />
370. <br />
371. She has worked at Hooters and the Gap. It wasn’t until her movie “Enchanted” at age 33 did she earn her fame. She was married at age 34 and had her first child at age 36. It wasn’t instant for her and it just reminds us that living a “cookie cutter” life is not all that and more. Here is what she has to say about living life on hold:<br />
372. <br />
373. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQNoahUbxmuMeVz8f4T9qAQbNe1NwFT5z-1WctySoeLMPVWd6bZGFP6uFT3KjFDZ3XEcO3l1R7tpiPBSEsyhNU-Dj1rqlQLZVkEm85CQp5aqrYR_-WAaGrLhi-K1Ev49ZK8_VefNm8CJj/s1600/picture_of_an_angry_man_on_hold_with_the_telephone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQNoahUbxmuMeVz8f4T9qAQbNe1NwFT5z-1WctySoeLMPVWd6bZGFP6uFT3KjFDZ3XEcO3l1R7tpiPBSEsyhNU-Dj1rqlQLZVkEm85CQp5aqrYR_-WAaGrLhi-K1Ev49ZK8_VefNm8CJj/s200/picture_of_an_angry_man_on_hold_with_the_telephone.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>“Thirty was a big deal for me. It was the age where I reevaluated everything - how I approached life and how I thought about myself. When I look at my 20s, or when I look at any period in my life, I think about how much time I've wasted trying to find the right man. It's like, if I could go back and do it again, I would have taken guitar lessons or something. I would have put my energy into something that paid off in the end, instead of trying to improve myself for men. Oh, the time and the energy, trying to impress somebody who was actually a big jerk, you know? But the truth is, once you have a great man in your life, it allows you - or at least for me - to look at yourself and grow as an individual. And gosh, if I had known I was going to find this, my 20s would have been completely different.”<br />
374. <br />
375. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_btI9jKLrieY/TC5AClNZRxI/AAAAAAAAAiI/qYxvL0ORfpk/s1600/switchboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="116" rw="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_btI9jKLrieY/TC5AClNZRxI/AAAAAAAAAiI/qYxvL0ORfpk/s200/switchboard.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>We learn to live life by living in the moment, not by living tomorrow when it comes. If we keep our lives on hold, then our lives can happen without us even noticing. Our house on hold doesn’t mean my life has to be on hold. Yes, it is not my dream place, and no I don’t feel that comfortable here, but I don’t want to miss out on these precious years with my kids or how close we are to the beach, or the ease of getting them to school and jetting to work. I don’t want to miss out on life lessons and life joys. Maybe in six years our house will finally have curb appeal, but in the mean time I can’t hide it away. I’m doing my best to not be embarrassed and open our house up for parties, barbeque, and play dates. I’m still working on that though. In the meantime, here’s to the here and now and living life today to the fullest.<br />
376. <br />
377. <span style="color: #073763;"><strong>How is your life on hold? What have you learned from it?</strong></span><br />
378. <br />
379. __________________________________________________________<br />
380. <br />
381. <br />
382. &lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #073763;&quot;&gt;There is a new post each week - to receive the next one in your &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #073763;&quot;&gt;inbox you can “subscribe” (which is totally free) by clicking&lt;a href=&quot;http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/&quot;&gt; here&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #073763;&quot;&gt;Enter e-mail address in top right corner. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/699016761855577338/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/07/on-hold.html#comment-form' title='3 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/699016761855577338'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/699016761855577338'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/07/on-hold.html' title='On Hold'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKG0XEY3VREWxAhyphenhyphendSWvj2udmnk6yTprWIZLyWdgLplRR90aO27xlwIlBOuM2ttrd6wvSKkkzC8F5p9jo6ihY4qihjLm9HV0xU_Mb6FT-8F8m0dlgqKo7PjKTgegAOwnHAcGc8Z7AWyZ6G/s72-c/HouseClipart.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>3</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-4030959498278025353</id><published>2010-06-22T10:14:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-06-22T14:05:02.052-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Oraganization"/><title type='text'>What to Do With All This Stuff?! (I mean beautiful work of art)</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBDe8emyV-f-5C7Rb3j_EQWZS0P_wVnStSOsu1CLIcASt9WwfrnA88_mcy2-Wu04zh-mkVkAyqe3uepiQF2JbkwBuhDkYoU8ngRic7IptDOsbKUbdsnqlag-5Mx7MmC14p5o7kr7HAnEAp/s1600/Schoolhouseclosed.gif&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; ru=&quot;true&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBDe8emyV-f-5C7Rb3j_EQWZS0P_wVnStSOsu1CLIcASt9WwfrnA88_mcy2-Wu04zh-mkVkAyqe3uepiQF2JbkwBuhDkYoU8ngRic7IptDOsbKUbdsnqlag-5Mx7MmC14p5o7kr7HAnEAp/s200/Schoolhouseclosed.gif&quot; width=&quot;198&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Yesterday was my boys last day of school and they brought home a truck load of paper. Math tests, short stories, diagrams, plethora of art work in various sizes, half-used notebooks, and assortment of other unknown papers. &lt;br /&gt;
383. <br />
384. Yes, a lot of paper. So what to do with all of this work-of-art that our kids put their heart in soul into for an entire year and yet what do we do with it all? When my oldest son was in kindergarten I kept just about every caterpillar he drew or scribble mark the he took effort to put on a piece of paper – but now we are being controlled by the ever growing mount of PAPER!<br />
385. <br />
386. <br />
387. So, I try to go through the stack to just asses how they did throughout the year, then take out the impressive items and the other papers I take out to the big trash bins in the back so they don’t see their work of art hanging out of the trash cans. It is still an overwhelming chore and their “work of art” is growing out of their designated “Art” labeled box.<br />
388. <br />
389. &lt;strong&gt;So what do you do with all the paper work that your children bring home?&lt;/strong&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/4030959498278025353/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/06/what-to-do-with-all-this-stuff-i-mean.html#comment-form' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/4030959498278025353'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/4030959498278025353'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/06/what-to-do-with-all-this-stuff-i-mean.html' title='What to Do With All This Stuff?! (I mean beautiful work of art)'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBDe8emyV-f-5C7Rb3j_EQWZS0P_wVnStSOsu1CLIcASt9WwfrnA88_mcy2-Wu04zh-mkVkAyqe3uepiQF2JbkwBuhDkYoU8ngRic7IptDOsbKUbdsnqlag-5Mx7MmC14p5o7kr7HAnEAp/s72-c/Schoolhouseclosed.gif" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-88844109808725718</id><published>2010-06-02T00:09:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-06-02T15:15:24.504-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="dogs"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="puppies"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Sanity"/><title type='text'>&quot;Nobody Told Me There Would Be Days Like These&quot;</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhESZT6behDFolkp6ITW8l6NZkPpjgldYDTeFxlweP-JjWPAV7sHXin361cMFw4yR3TddOfPJYTIsZE-d_fgvMlgfGpBRjGUavTLA17BVVbbRBG_XZIEI1gSkeEfz_IiO2nV18vLxxJUAj1/s1600/Nacho1.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; gu=&quot;true&quot; height=&quot;133&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhESZT6behDFolkp6ITW8l6NZkPpjgldYDTeFxlweP-JjWPAV7sHXin361cMFw4yR3TddOfPJYTIsZE-d_fgvMlgfGpBRjGUavTLA17BVVbbRBG_XZIEI1gSkeEfz_IiO2nV18vLxxJUAj1/s200/Nacho1.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Monday&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
390. We met a sweet 12-week old, 25 pound-black lab that we knew belonged with our family.<br />
391. <br />
392. <strong>Friday</strong><br />
393. We brought our puppy home and named him “Nacho” as in “Nacho Libre” as in the movie for Ignacio.<br />
394. <br />
395. The house where puppy lived seemed as if it was as far away as Timbuktu and we only had a two-hour window to get out there pick him up and get my eldest son back for his second of nine play performances. Puppy didn't eat the rest of the day, but we didn't think anything of it sense we just figured he was excited about his new environment. <br />
396. <br />
397. <strong>Saturday</strong><br />
398. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqVjQzYgZ64PXoDv5FhzJT-eEzP0EHlnEbZvTKfZMl7SgwysHt9q-1uQbTdFXtseQbw2hDIUnolifpwU1Mb-TGEgl_ws3Ke4JYhLiDLuEtZKhp7brPscuz6Y0YVkSEQP4nIJ1w2N8XWK9/s1600/dog_house_clip_art.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqVjQzYgZ64PXoDv5FhzJT-eEzP0EHlnEbZvTKfZMl7SgwysHt9q-1uQbTdFXtseQbw2hDIUnolifpwU1Mb-TGEgl_ws3Ke4JYhLiDLuEtZKhp7brPscuz6Y0YVkSEQP4nIJ1w2N8XWK9/s200/dog_house_clip_art.gif" width="200" /></a></div>Our friends brought over their Shih Tzu, a dog we have taken care of several times and does well at our house. <br />
399. <br />
400. We were dog-sitting him for a week so I covered all the furniture with sheets because he likes to jump on the couches and chairs when we are not looking. All the while our puppy was peeing and pooping all over our carpets, including my white and black one in the front room, so I covered the carpets as much as I could with blankets. Nice look, eh?<br />
401. <br />
402. <strong>Sunday</strong> <br />
403. By evening I had used an entire bottle of Woolight to clean all the messes on the carpet. We were following Nacho everywhere he went in the house and we split the day up in four shifts. Puppy still hadn’t eaten. <br />
404. My eldest still had plays to perform while I had to put in my volunteer time, all the while my husband worked endless hours to put up the posts for a fence in our backyard.<br />
405. <br />
406. Between performances we jetted off to supply and grocery store for son's science project that they had two weeks to work on but it was now due on Tuesday.<br />
407. <br />
408. <strong>Monday</strong> <br />
409. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbynBN3dH89HlnV70f528pmlAbrMnJlvwSv2QwtgVuv6WAxoq6tmwi5YzJ5LjW9dnBbvp0z7Yvzhce5UrvoFyEtcgwKSKii73p1Df9DlvYNdDfzgoYn7tjz4pJgYNN92qjLuxhmN9eRGNr/s1600/Nacho4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbynBN3dH89HlnV70f528pmlAbrMnJlvwSv2QwtgVuv6WAxoq6tmwi5YzJ5LjW9dnBbvp0z7Yvzhce5UrvoFyEtcgwKSKii73p1Df9DlvYNdDfzgoYn7tjz4pJgYNN92qjLuxhmN9eRGNr/s200/Nacho4.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Our puppy still hadn’t eaten and was getting weak. So I called the vet and was not looking forward to their location which was near puppy's old home; a long way from here.<br />
410. <blockquote>"Hello, my 12-week, old puppy has not eaten for four days; can he be seen sometime in the afternoon?"<br />
411. <br />
412. "Well," the vet receptionist replied, "the soonest we can get him in is at 11:20am. You can come then.”<br />
413. <br />
414. “Do you have any time in the afternoon?” I replied thinking about the deadline for the rough draft due at noon and I needed all morning to work on it.<br />
415. <br />
416. Silent on the other end for a few minutes, receptionist not looking up if she had an opening later in the day, “Um, maam, your puppy has not eaten for four days….”<br />
417. <br />
418. I knew what she was trying to say and if something were to happen to puppy, I wouldn’t want anyone to point the finger at us for not bringing him in sooner.</blockquote>I then took time off of work and drove puppy to what I'm sure was Timbuktu. On the way over I called puppy's original owner and informed her of the situation. She was very worried. The veterinarian took a couple of tests and deducted that he had a digestive track problem and needed antibiotics and a “bland diet” which meant boiled chicken, cottage cheese, and rice. He was having a difficult time adjusting to his new environment.<br />
419. <br />
420. That night I bought and cooked the referenced items enough for the next day.<br />
421. <br />
422. <strong>Tuesday</strong> <br />
423. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgImSrUF-Bx9l2O90BJ6UBxRlatRj2C1VjC4OQG6-aqYbpp7rga7_seCHR_JrW0_9eAp-L7UXlhUmHvjeNV3cLIzQRZ_n_NJ6HmY_0SNtSoFSegB0JlOh69Cxe246S9kc1-PYqihkSzMLht/s1600/dog-dish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="105" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgImSrUF-Bx9l2O90BJ6UBxRlatRj2C1VjC4OQG6-aqYbpp7rga7_seCHR_JrW0_9eAp-L7UXlhUmHvjeNV3cLIzQRZ_n_NJ6HmY_0SNtSoFSegB0JlOh69Cxe246S9kc1-PYqihkSzMLht/s200/dog-dish.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>We put “Nacho” in a vacant room in the house while we went to school and work during the day. He chewed through the cable wires and tore down the blinds. <br />
424. <br />
425. I also had a lot going on with work and was planning a big event the next day that I was worried about the lack of interest and low attendance numbers.<br />
426. <br />
427. <strong>Wednesday</strong><br />
428. Puppy started coughing – we just thought he was having troubles digesting his food. <br />
429. <br />
430. It was also the day I had a big event at the DoubleTree Hotel and my husband had to ride his bike over to pick up the kids from school (due to the fact we still don't have a second car - but that is another story for another day). <br />
431. <br />
432. That night, Nacho was also not sleeping under my son’s desk at night like he did the other days. He went pee and poop in their room during the night and ate through my son's favorite bag with Mickey Mouse on it. We also caught him chewing on the Bernstein Bear's book, "Trouble at School." Oldest child said there will be "Trouble at Home" if he ever chews on his precious hardback books he treasures.<br />
433. <br />
434. <strong>Thursday</strong> <br />
435. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>A full day and we couldn’t get home until late afternoon. The longest the puppy had stayed in the vacant room in one day. We opened the door to the room to find that there was a mirror attached to the back of the door that we didn’t know was there and he had scratched the door so much that the mirror came crashing down and broke into tiny pieces all over the room. We were welcomed to three sets of urine puddles and two poop piles. That was just "fun" to clean up.<br />
436. <br />
437. I also went back to work after dinner and stayed almost to midnight to work on my deadline and came home to find everyone was up and out of bed. Puppy could not go to sleep and was whining and keeping everyone awake. He needed "his" blanket. <br />
438. <br />
439. <strong>Friday</strong> <br />
440. <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The crate finally arrived. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfCsf-7teqnqI1SFRW_Py2yHVSJvfMFM7AXUxcbN_7O_7cHoLWYJVfWYQWQY6JwcL5FqyZaEe1uJ-ALaWOxpJPGxCNvINRznb1hK9g3ktK-9dvLZ04e0JN2w2USqdY9akJOSpk5tjGtJY_/s1600/Nacho3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfCsf-7teqnqI1SFRW_Py2yHVSJvfMFM7AXUxcbN_7O_7cHoLWYJVfWYQWQY6JwcL5FqyZaEe1uJ-ALaWOxpJPGxCNvINRznb1hK9g3ktK-9dvLZ04e0JN2w2USqdY9akJOSpk5tjGtJY_/s200/Nacho3.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
441. It had been a week since Nacho had been at our home and we wanted to start him on "kennel/crate training" from the beginning, but it took a while for the crate to be delivered and by that time puppy had already started some of his own habits. <br />
442. <br />
443. I also completed my big project deadline and our visiting dog went home later that afternoon. The dog's owner came into our house to find a big "turd" sitting in a pile in our living room. Lovely. Ended up that "Buddy" left with the “kennel cough” puppy gave him that we didn’t know he had. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
444. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>No Walks For Puppy</strong><br />
445. We were finally able to bring puppy back for his veterinarian's “puppy check up” and get his booster shots, only to find out we have to come back in three weeks for more and until then we cannot bring him in “public” places until he has had all his shots. Yes, that means we <strong>can’t take him on a walk for three weeks</strong> and he is cooped up in our house and back yard which has no fence. My husband had been working more hours on putting up the fence than he ever anticipated!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
446. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>Exhausted but Thankful for Puppy</strong><br />
447. We are tired and all I can say is that it is a darn good thing puppy is so cute and sweet. He is our new family sock thief, paper shredder, potted plant puller, and food bandit. Puppy also lets the boys drag him around, stick their hands down his mouth to fetch out a non-puppy toy, and he bounds excitedly where ever he goes. And yes, he is cute when he is asleep even though he wakes us up at 3:30 and 5:20 am every morning. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
448. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_btI9jKLrieY/TAYDH6fxGeI/AAAAAAAAAhI/VhiV3wTtr5c/s1600/DogPoster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" height="170" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_btI9jKLrieY/TAYDH6fxGeI/AAAAAAAAAhI/VhiV3wTtr5c/s200/DogPoster.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><strong>Nobody Told Me It Would Be Like This!</strong><br />
449. Now my week was out of control for several reasons: I had a hectic week at work; followed puppy around the house all his waking hours; scrubbed rugs and hard wood floors of smelly odor; made homemade puppy food instead of just scoop and serve; couldn't take puppy on a walk or even to our front yard; had to get up in the middle of the night to take dog out; was woken up at 5:20 am every morning; the house became a disaster with torn papers, blankets, and sheets strewn all over the house; and on top of that there were play performances to attend, school projects to complete, a fence that was not up, and deadlines to meet. Whew. <br />
450. <br />
451. It was too much for me to handle and I have to say I was a royal stress case and I was not pleasant to be around. I'm trying to have a better attitude and enjoy our sweet puppy who really has already become part of the family.<br />
452. <br />
453. &lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #134f5c;&quot;&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Have you had days like these? What has happened in your life that seemed out of your ability to control or cope? Or please share any puppy advice or words of encouragement.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/88844109808725718/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/06/nobody-told-me-there-would-be-days-like.html#comment-form' title='9 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/88844109808725718'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/88844109808725718'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/06/nobody-told-me-there-would-be-days-like.html' title='&quot;Nobody Told Me There Would Be Days Like These&quot;'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhESZT6behDFolkp6ITW8l6NZkPpjgldYDTeFxlweP-JjWPAV7sHXin361cMFw4yR3TddOfPJYTIsZE-d_fgvMlgfGpBRjGUavTLA17BVVbbRBG_XZIEI1gSkeEfz_IiO2nV18vLxxJUAj1/s72-c/Nacho1.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>9</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-1396836905073099043</id><published>2010-04-26T13:03:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-06-07T13:00:00.574-07:00</updated><title type='text'>The Swing Set</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVk6pLAydPypHkD28lafUPQQEXJTG7ATh5ILa0gsFgKJF3hmhtYHM1TcVDBjdaOEZMdGHKlknBcLTec_4P13OUuuA2UHJXbjTi7r6c9Ht4HtSDhF0ntZpvsvxmEVMIVh1nproEJhp38SK/s1600/boy_on_tire_swing_clipart.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVk6pLAydPypHkD28lafUPQQEXJTG7ATh5ILa0gsFgKJF3hmhtYHM1TcVDBjdaOEZMdGHKlknBcLTec_4P13OUuuA2UHJXbjTi7r6c9Ht4HtSDhF0ntZpvsvxmEVMIVh1nproEJhp38SK/s320/boy_on_tire_swing_clipart.jpg&quot; tt=&quot;true&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Last summer my husband planned on building a fort with an attached swing set for the boys. He took Fridays off for those ten summer weeks and he and the boys designed the set complete with ropes attached to trees to swing onto the fort and all kinds of special features. They researched other forts, designed and inputted it into AutoCAD, planned out the wood, picked the stain, ordered special bolts and screws, and had the wood delivered from several different lumber stores to our back yard. &lt;br /&gt;
454. <br />
455. My husband and I disagreed on if we should create and spend our money on such a massive fort that would take up the majority of our back yard. He said, hey the kids are only children once and he wanted to do this fort for them. My argument was although I know he could do it and it could be the best fort in all of San Diego, I also was trying to be realistic and I knew that he would be gone many weekends too many to take on such an endeavor. I was skeptical that he would not be able to complete it while they were still kids and I really didn’t want my entire backyard taken up by this gi-normous playset. Couldn’t he make a smaller, simpler one?<br />
456. <br />
457. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg17r3vZR-xsLgIvRJvTN4-OZOfUuyS1N60z3GJtJBJ1h3XIpMJUAa8BVJl9zOyx0OAZySds-NluXOuUS8bczKv22trq_DOZ1WVHb7kKAqEvtGRSWln0_DQ0YW0hmIJehTgA_J5PAqgJd2N/s1600/castle-fort-clipart-medieval-fort-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg17r3vZR-xsLgIvRJvTN4-OZOfUuyS1N60z3GJtJBJ1h3XIpMJUAa8BVJl9zOyx0OAZySds-NluXOuUS8bczKv22trq_DOZ1WVHb7kKAqEvtGRSWln0_DQ0YW0hmIJehTgA_J5PAqgJd2N/s200/castle-fort-clipart-medieval-fort-5.jpg" tt="true" width="200" /></a></div>He went ahead with his plans and after we borrowed ladders, lights, power machines, and other things I’m not even sure what. We then had friends come over and have a swing set raising party. It was well after summer when the boys were able to finally swing on the green swings and climb up the hanging plastic ropes. The fort portion had to wait until the following summer. While the kids were enjoying their father’s great accomplishment, my husband noticed that the swing set still wasn’t braced enough so he put up boards across the set so the boys wouldn’t play on them until he fixed it. He special ordered some longer, thicker screws and some sort of bracing mechanisms. The owner of the store he ordered them from even came to our door to deliver them. Clif was planning on bracing the set soon. <br />
458. <br />
459. Yesterday my husband left with his mom to help move her to Florida. With a 26’ truck with her car in tow they headed out for a fourteen hour drive for three days each and then a planned one more day to move her in. He was in Las Cruzes, New Mexico when I called with some sobering news. <br />
460. <br />
461. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysWHImiKx72IB7qR6iO_FdYQNyIKC8gZD84kFUgWnvC7jQybw8BlDkeGEIi-fd6ZGS8YkSqAkegEdu8KhBQ3s7fUB6-oKpLWTCHm8K1xxJfiimp2kaFDIosiV-jrtzJTZ1RcF2jReD3Pq/s1600/tree-house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiysWHImiKx72IB7qR6iO_FdYQNyIKC8gZD84kFUgWnvC7jQybw8BlDkeGEIi-fd6ZGS8YkSqAkegEdu8KhBQ3s7fUB6-oKpLWTCHm8K1xxJfiimp2kaFDIosiV-jrtzJTZ1RcF2jReD3Pq/s320/tree-house.jpg" tt="true" /></a></div>The boys and I had been gone most of the day doing those annoying errands we just had to do on a Saturday. We arrived home late in the afternoon and the boys were “vegging” in front of the TV watching “the Princess and the Frog” movie on volume 25 or something loud like that while I was fixing a simple dinner. I heard a very loud noise outside, but couldn’t figure out where it came from. The timer was going off, the microwave was humming, and the movie was blaring. I just figured that our neighbors opened their garage door or something.<br />
462. <br />
463. Then our door bell rang. I ask the boys to pause their movie even though I thought it might be someone trying to sell candy so they could go to a camp even though it was odd that they would be soliciting so late in the evening. We were surprised to discover our alley neighbor standing at our door. He told us how he saw about six kids arrive to our backyard on skateboards. They opened our knee-high gate and let themselves in and then played on the swing set. After all of them swinging and climbing on it the massive contraption came tumbling down. The neighborhood boys laughed and scurried off. It was then that our neighbor realized they were not suppose to be in our backyard and he came to tell us that loud noise was our massive swing set.<br />
464. <br />
465. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qhL13l0F_j-N4qgSf0-Yx3jfc3-ihcdlbip8Q-VjELHp4WhjlbDikUSNfQtvfYnCZQWEEDzgpKvVwKEcbFf1nZQBUXtOLXYHCCPPpuYcqwI0HBdiZYnBWiUG2FBclshEFK053ru9Dyvc/s1600/swing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qhL13l0F_j-N4qgSf0-Yx3jfc3-ihcdlbip8Q-VjELHp4WhjlbDikUSNfQtvfYnCZQWEEDzgpKvVwKEcbFf1nZQBUXtOLXYHCCPPpuYcqwI0HBdiZYnBWiUG2FBclshEFK053ru9Dyvc/s200/swing.jpg" tt="true" width="200" /></a></div>We thanked him for delivering the message and we ran out back to examine the ruins. The gi-normous boards crashed down over the fence into the alley threatening damage to any unsuspecting driver’s car. Since Clif was not at home I knew there would be no way ever that I could move those boards by myself so I went to our friendly next-door neighbors and asked if they wouldn’t mind helping me pull the contraption in. We heaved and hoed and dragged the thick boards in, crashing further to the ground unhitched from the fence. All that work lay in one massive pile with no indication that it was a swing set. The hinges were bent, the wood was shared in places, and the dream of fort battles and overnight sleepovers high up quickly vanished.<br />
466. <br />
467. It only took a second for almost a year’s worth of work to come crashing down.<br />
468. <br />
469. I spent an entire year writing articles on being a mom and raising healthy children. I took another year to put together a book proposal and it took me a day to write and send out queries to literary agents asking them to consider reading my proposal and manuscript. It only took them a moment to receive a reply letting me know that information could be found on the web. It took all of a few seconds for me to realize that I needed to abandon the project that took me two years to do.<br />
470. <br />
471. <div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: #073763;">What have you worked on or dreamed about that only took a second to have it all come crashing down?</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;">__________________________________________________________</div><br />
472. <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">There is a new post each week - to receive the next one in your inbox you can “subscribe” (which is totally free) by clicking <a href="http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/">here</a>. <br />
473. Enter e-mail address in top right corner.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/1396836905073099043/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/04/swing-set.html#comment-form' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/1396836905073099043'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/1396836905073099043'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/04/swing-set.html' title='The Swing Set'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxVk6pLAydPypHkD28lafUPQQEXJTG7ATh5ILa0gsFgKJF3hmhtYHM1TcVDBjdaOEZMdGHKlknBcLTec_4P13OUuuA2UHJXbjTi7r6c9Ht4HtSDhF0ntZpvsvxmEVMIVh1nproEJhp38SK/s72-c/boy_on_tire_swing_clipart.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-3226110957990337729</id><published>2010-04-11T17:46:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-04-13T22:19:25.569-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="ER"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Friends"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Television"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="The Good Wife"/><title type='text'>“The Good Wife” and All That Showbiz</title><content type='html'>For the first almost two years of our marriage we didn’t have a TV.&lt;br /&gt;
474. <br />
475. <strong>No Television</strong><br />
476. We didn’t miss it. Really we didn’t, except in March during college basketball season because my husband is a big fan. So, he would get together with friends and watch it at their house. Other than that we got used to not having it around. My husband and I live very active, busy lives and there is not much time for a TV addiction.<br />
477. <br />
478. <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>Our First Television</strong></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGGbEQIehdOxO7Tkck_wLLtn_9-fr6iGFVSarqz80Q_OLrXG2tDu5RrOz9tt7xvBjhyphenhyphenSImOkqIIU7_96bgP4JUvZWbzHNdOJ4-WNULJn-86vJES4Y4gxIoX72KQY42PmVhSNMPqRNxeXd/s1600/television-tv-set.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGGbEQIehdOxO7Tkck_wLLtn_9-fr6iGFVSarqz80Q_OLrXG2tDu5RrOz9tt7xvBjhyphenhyphenSImOkqIIU7_96bgP4JUvZWbzHNdOJ4-WNULJn-86vJES4Y4gxIoX72KQY42PmVhSNMPqRNxeXd/s200/television-tv-set.jpg" width="200" wt="true" /></a>While pregnant with our first child, someone donated their television to us. It was a small one, but big to us, and we propped it up on our beat-up coffee table in the corner. We were able to tune into two network stations and that was only when we put the “rabbit ears” up, the flexible kind, and we would tape them to the wall and sometime we would have to hold them just right while watching a show. The picture was never clear and always fuzzy, but we got used to it. Come to think of it, we have never bought a television and our current one was also given to us.</div><br />
479. <strong>“Charlie’s Angels”</strong><br />
480. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZj-89zM3HdSjBUOrU4_SqCJtlqaRPoJK0QhykdPu8BW-IzEG3aeS4OkyIG6B_hl9Bfx9DXiCvv8cBP9lvjvMp3XlM4Srgdh-W5Ng8rLpxNYJncnxfbm5CK6ImAImvtHYv6Y47mbsNm7uW/s1600/Charlie's+Angeles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZj-89zM3HdSjBUOrU4_SqCJtlqaRPoJK0QhykdPu8BW-IzEG3aeS4OkyIG6B_hl9Bfx9DXiCvv8cBP9lvjvMp3XlM4Srgdh-W5Ng8rLpxNYJncnxfbm5CK6ImAImvtHYv6Y47mbsNm7uW/s200/Charlie's+Angeles.jpg" width="200" wt="true" /></a></div>Growing up I would watch “Charlie’s Angels” when I got home from school and then my sister and I would sneak in “Three’s Company” in the evenings sometimes when my mom was not paying attention to what we were watching (she didn’t like that show). <br />
481. <br />
482. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVpkgteo_hu1Pu2MCB-IxUSYiGO98oAIvQr86DWDmPRl5xhClz3Dkq8p7xF5ys0pkqDtSa_Y2pVaLA-HenAUG5y1kv1oBUSUwCHK2s-y8nGJKwnYfzn5cg1DEEc-P9Ws51AFEEVEuVpYa/s1600/friends_tvshow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVpkgteo_hu1Pu2MCB-IxUSYiGO98oAIvQr86DWDmPRl5xhClz3Dkq8p7xF5ys0pkqDtSa_Y2pVaLA-HenAUG5y1kv1oBUSUwCHK2s-y8nGJKwnYfzn5cg1DEEc-P9Ws51AFEEVEuVpYa/s200/friends_tvshow.jpg" width="200" wt="true" /></a></div><strong>“Friends”</strong><br />
483. When I moved away after college and shared a condo with three other roommates, I would watch “Friends” because I so much identified with what they were going through and watched the show until the very last one. Now, I would watch it if I was around on a Thursday night, but never fret if I missed one. Later on in life I would watch the re-runs occasionally and catch the ones I missed.<br />
484. <br />
485. <strong>“ER”</strong><br />
486. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_btI9jKLrieY/S8JpKx-1-PI/AAAAAAAAAe4/1Jdsf-wZflw/s1600/ER-Cast-S01-01.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_btI9jKLrieY/S8JpKx-1-PI/AAAAAAAAAe4/1Jdsf-wZflw/s200/ER-Cast-S01-01.bmp" width="200" wt="true" /></a></div>Later I started watching the series “ER.” Yeah, back in the day of George Clooney as Dr. Ross and Anthony Edwards as Dr. Green. I loved their friendship and how they talked while playing basketball and Dr. Green would cover for Dr. Ross when he came into work with a hangover. After Dr. Ross skipped town, the show was never the same and it started getting old. Before we were married, my husband when come over and watch the show with me.<br />
487. <br />
488. <strong>“Grey's Anatomy”</strong><br />
489. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxHTNJEPjsNd0mUW8gdetFzOrFSnTzkXxNztv1LWgxks0l39RGACfHI3DI-JIRdJNJJCy7tr8J9XlUuRunI67XO90XT-pMbP-i4HHG7zSESzB7EGtBzh4zRYCpciCkguUE6TiW3a04JSnO/s1600/Watch-Greys-Anatomy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxHTNJEPjsNd0mUW8gdetFzOrFSnTzkXxNztv1LWgxks0l39RGACfHI3DI-JIRdJNJJCy7tr8J9XlUuRunI67XO90XT-pMbP-i4HHG7zSESzB7EGtBzh4zRYCpciCkguUE6TiW3a04JSnO/s200/Watch-Greys-Anatomy.jpg" width="200" wt="true" /></a>Just last year my husband and I rented three seasons of the dvd series “Grey's Anatomy,” but never watched as it aired and now we lost complete interest in that show (too much casual sex for us to support). After Danny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) died, I just didn’t like it any more (just loved his character). </div><br />
490. <strong>New Shows</strong><br />
491. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3JvKHT4PTx2r1tukIl13CXYSNJY_qTK8WYdTQnxIGCMO9XmymYYzFH2UiMOoKvuQBwtYv3MGRWz28NMaogu-KeXh3asDTHCZL2FBjoDoprTQ0O9tD_bOCIbN_aD39XPq3bwke6LhFaKl7/s1600/modern-family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3JvKHT4PTx2r1tukIl13CXYSNJY_qTK8WYdTQnxIGCMO9XmymYYzFH2UiMOoKvuQBwtYv3MGRWz28NMaogu-KeXh3asDTHCZL2FBjoDoprTQ0O9tD_bOCIbN_aD39XPq3bwke6LhFaKl7/s200/modern-family.jpg" width="200" wt="true" /></a></div>Clif’s mom is temporarily living in our spare bedroom, transformed from garage and she couldn’t live without her pylitheria of TV station selections so she had cable installed in the house. We started watching “Modern Family” and Flash Forward.” We set it up so it would record if we miss it. We will be losing cable at the end of the month.<br />
492. <br />
493. <strong>The Good Wife</strong><br />
494. Then one day when I was online I saw an ad for the “The Good Wife.” I watched the pilot episode and knew I was hooked. I set it up to record in case I wasn’t around Tuesdays at 10pm, but I usually don’t miss it. What is fun is that Julianna Margulies is the main character and she also played Nurse Hathaway in the ER series, George Clooney’s love interest and they had twins together in the show, back in the day.<br />
495. <br />
496. <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">If you don’t know anything about this show:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMLPAVOBtU36ooslcj_zFrCPiWfFVmM3HXhJ-dmtSH8YDF5EgOb54rMJ3OI5C1uG0NUfcoNKRpxVr6BlR4yBU3Aqrleftn4sUvchX5VEcTNhH2ZrZU1pV8wV3RPjQEiMcntDZhLqP_t7cM/s1600/the-good-wife-poster_352x520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMLPAVOBtU36ooslcj_zFrCPiWfFVmM3HXhJ-dmtSH8YDF5EgOb54rMJ3OI5C1uG0NUfcoNKRpxVr6BlR4yBU3Aqrleftn4sUvchX5VEcTNhH2ZrZU1pV8wV3RPjQEiMcntDZhLqP_t7cM/s200/the-good-wife-poster_352x520.jpg" width="135" wt="true" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
497. </div><blockquote style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">“The storyline focuses on Margulies as Alicia Florrick, the wife of Peter Florrick (Noth). Her husband, a former Chicago state attorney, has been jailed following a very public sex and corruption scandal. She returns to her old job as a litigator to rebuild her reputation and provide for her two children.[6] The series was partly inspired by the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal,[7] as well as by other prominent American political sex scandals, particularly those of John Edwards and Bill Clinton” <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Wife_(TV_series)">Wikipedia</a></blockquote>I have always wondered how these women handled life after a very visible scandal. How do they and their children continue a healthy life after their husband and father’s scandal has been so public?<br />
498. <br />
499. Yes, I’m hooked and I know there a lot of you out there hooked too because I see you all twittering about it.<br />
500. <br />
501. <strong>TV as a Babysitter</strong><br />
502. Isn’t it funny about television though? We get a sneak snapshot in other people’s lives and sometimes forget about living our own lives.<br />
503. <br />
504. When I used to bring my kids to 24 Hour Fitness, the child care workers would always put a TV show on to keep the kids calm. Sometimes my boys would just watch a movie the entire time I worked out. One time I came in and they were watching the” Wizard of Oz” and I told the workers that show really is not appropriate for little kids. (I was about nine when I saw that show and those flying monkeys scared the begezeers out of me.)<br />
505. <br />
506. I know I’ve done it too: used the television as a babysitter. When I’m busy or have a deadline I will put the television on for my boys so they are preoccupied and not argue and fight for a little bit of time. I also don’t let them watch Cartoon Network (they might be in cartoon, but they are so rude to authority!).<br />
507. <br />
508. Now they don’t really ask to watch television any more, they want to know if they can play the Wii or their pre-approved computer games.<br />
509. <br />
510. <strong>How Much Do You Watch?</strong><br />
511. Okay, so some of those shows were probably not good for my mind, but yet I sit and watch them for the sole purpose of entertainment. <br />
512. <br />
513. My husband and I watch about two and half hours of TV a week. That is not counting a movie maybe once a week and Monday night football when it comes back around. Occasionally I watch a bit of the "Today Show" and my husband catches up on sports news. The boys are only allowed to watch TV but only on weekends and only ½ hour of Wii or computer time during the weekdays.<br />
514. <br />
515. <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #073763;"><strong>What shows do you watch? How much do you let your kid’s watch? How much is too much? Do you have limits on TV, computer, and Wii or Xbox time for your kids or yourself?</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
516. </div><div style="text-align: center;">__________________________________________________________</div><br />
517. <br />
518. &lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #666666;&quot;&gt;There is a new post each week - to receive the next one in your inbox you can “subscribe” (which is totally free) by clicking &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #666666;&quot;&gt;here&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #666666;&quot;&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: #666666;&quot;&gt;Enter e-mail address in top right corner.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/3226110957990337729/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/04/good-wife-and-all-that-showbiz.html#comment-form' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/3226110957990337729'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/3226110957990337729'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/04/good-wife-and-all-that-showbiz.html' title='“The Good Wife” and All That Showbiz'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGGbEQIehdOxO7Tkck_wLLtn_9-fr6iGFVSarqz80Q_OLrXG2tDu5RrOz9tt7xvBjhyphenhyphenSImOkqIIU7_96bgP4JUvZWbzHNdOJ4-WNULJn-86vJES4Y4gxIoX72KQY42PmVhSNMPqRNxeXd/s72-c/television-tv-set.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-4047890008996838123</id><published>2010-04-04T21:28:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2010-04-06T19:46:05.635-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Family"/><title type='text'>Why Can&#39;t We All Just Get Along?</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi57TqlUGlOLEBcd9ackl1RGKwXCaFrXMLstl4XI14vGRwtERtqDmUhrIuvSjuQvJwLt_CIQXJ9OWgvQWhUSy-HrtUm6dj0lIa1D3fDrNTTrQCSr8Reqfk94PZkLRcJmTBTeAGtWi3pmX0D/s1600/sibling_rivalry1.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;160&quot; nt=&quot;true&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi57TqlUGlOLEBcd9ackl1RGKwXCaFrXMLstl4XI14vGRwtERtqDmUhrIuvSjuQvJwLt_CIQXJ9OWgvQWhUSy-HrtUm6dj0lIa1D3fDrNTTrQCSr8Reqfk94PZkLRcJmTBTeAGtWi3pmX0D/s200/sibling_rivalry1.jpg&quot; width=&quot;200&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;We have been playing the board game &quot;Risk&quot; at our house lately. &lt;br /&gt;
519. <br />
520. At my son's 11th birthday party a couple weeks ago, he had two friends over for a sleepover. His buddies saw the game on the shelf and got excited about playing it. One of the boys knew how to play so he taught the others and they ended up playing it until the wee earlier hours of the morning. No one won. That is the nature of the game of Risk: it is never ending. Over this Easter vacation we broke out the game again and have all been playing it.<br />
521. <br />
522. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQwKWmaZufUuZKyLWkozIniySa8-b9ssGZC_xrlgb5alR9NJ5lBbpmH6-3XEvbJlcQ35dSZAju4EfjSB9BCKGbRNBPzaPMuYHCN4sItlW8DqEGeugva0p8HJhSw1TKSaPoqSxtb_-gDL7F/s1600/SiblingRivalry3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQwKWmaZufUuZKyLWkozIniySa8-b9ssGZC_xrlgb5alR9NJ5lBbpmH6-3XEvbJlcQ35dSZAju4EfjSB9BCKGbRNBPzaPMuYHCN4sItlW8DqEGeugva0p8HJhSw1TKSaPoqSxtb_-gDL7F/s200/SiblingRivalry3.jpg" width="196" /></a></div>The object of the game is world domination. It takes us several days of about with an hour or less of play time a day to finish a game - so we leave it out on the table and I see family members come by the board game during the day and evaluate their next move. While they are brushing their teeth or putting their clothes on I’ll hear my two boys threaten each other, “I’m going to take you down. I’m going to have your Africa [or Australia or whatever it is]. You are going down.”<br />
523. <br />
524. The first day of our family game there were tears. Older child was mad because he was losing and said some not nice things to younger child. Second day of the game, younger child didn’t want to play because older child was not that nice to him the day before. Fourth day of the game, younger child started taking out his dad’s armies and soon took over Europe. Fifth day grandma took over Europe and younger child came over to my South America thru Africa and I just had to take him out and I rolled him completely out of the game. “Mom, how could you do that to your youngest son?”<br />
525. <br />
526. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmEt-nYEyvCq-nhvLFP8zXEoxPsnGdhUBs21G8SSUokigkLr_aDcZV0ngRaT3jMBFUkk21VbHbCmPumtrqitqoc5H0X2YO00NnxfbMjrE2y2nj1WQbdV12Wiag5lgfFjcwA8bYqK7FX3sg/s1600/sibling-rivalry6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmEt-nYEyvCq-nhvLFP8zXEoxPsnGdhUBs21G8SSUokigkLr_aDcZV0ngRaT3jMBFUkk21VbHbCmPumtrqitqoc5H0X2YO00NnxfbMjrE2y2nj1WQbdV12Wiag5lgfFjcwA8bYqK7FX3sg/s200/sibling-rivalry6.jpg" width="133" /></a>My boys don’t get along. Actually, the older child torments the younger with words and the younger is not quite as quick with the verbal combats, but he can pull out a 1-2-3 punch pretty quickly. If the older is not saying verbal harassment, he is giddy and hanging all over the younger, touching his face, putting his finger in his ear, or blocking him from a door way. It is not like the older is that much bigger than the younger to dominate with his oversized body (only by two inches, five pounds, and three more years of experience) he is just bored and has no one else to pick on. One day in the car my younger says between quiet sobs, “Even though he is always bothering me, I still love him.”<br />
527. <br />
528. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifOv7sTchvo-_2FGsor4XCAxjxOJEHK7tBY4DZ9QMhLvpiAFqBisYm1YJd8J22cpXjgz8dEqF3ZL-viY89UFPjSi9A025aRxFn78mrMoMGzNR1KlckzLBdOqsX-LiEfCg8YMgLi0jIVKfO/s1600/brother-yelling-at-sister.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifOv7sTchvo-_2FGsor4XCAxjxOJEHK7tBY4DZ9QMhLvpiAFqBisYm1YJd8J22cpXjgz8dEqF3ZL-viY89UFPjSi9A025aRxFn78mrMoMGzNR1KlckzLBdOqsX-LiEfCg8YMgLi0jIVKfO/s200/brother-yelling-at-sister.jpg" width="144" /></a></div>One time a gal I was working with on a project came by my house to drop something off. She met my two boys and asked the younger if he and his brother were friends. “No” he replied, they were not friends.” Yeah just like that with no remorse, just stating that facts ma’am.<br />
529. <br />
530. Sometimes they do surprise us. At night when the boys are falling asleep the older child will climb up onto his younger brother’s bunk bed and pray over him. He will ask God to heal a foot or some injury his brother might have or asks God to help his brother with a situation at school, but at the end of the prayer he always thanks God for giving him the “best brother ever.”<br />
531. <br />
532. <strong>Does this rivalry happen in your house? Do your kids get along? If not, what do you do about it? Did you get along with your siblings? If not, what did your parents do about that and how do you get along now?</strong><br />
533. <br />
534. <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: large;"><em>Happy Easter Everyone.</em></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>Hope you all got along with your family and friends on this celebratory occasion and that you remembered the One who paid the price for victory.</em></div>__________________________________________________________<br />
535. <br />
536. <br />
537. <br />
538. <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">There is a new post each week - to receive the next one in your <br />
539. inbox you can “subscribe” (which is totally free) by clicking &lt;a href=&quot;http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;color: blue;&quot;&gt;Enter e-mail address in top right corner. &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/4047890008996838123/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-cant-we-all-just-get-along.html#comment-form' title='7 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/4047890008996838123'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/4047890008996838123'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/04/why-cant-we-all-just-get-along.html' title='Why Can&#39;t We All Just Get Along?'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi57TqlUGlOLEBcd9ackl1RGKwXCaFrXMLstl4XI14vGRwtERtqDmUhrIuvSjuQvJwLt_CIQXJ9OWgvQWhUSy-HrtUm6dj0lIa1D3fDrNTTrQCSr8Reqfk94PZkLRcJmTBTeAGtWi3pmX0D/s72-c/sibling_rivalry1.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>7</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-2715903655080934542</id><published>2010-03-08T20:47:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-03-10T12:09:14.057-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="busy"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="recipes"/><title type='text'>Some Quick Recipes For Those Busy Weeks</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVz_pkFFF_Ftb2p14G4ivUJlQjsVCu0YjAyKuFgg-1C3Q5xoPvJfX5MYe5ztxPoSIkYVw48hyphenhyphensAhM6gEqDHu_ZORBBT3ulMiTfOxkjOUjwoOEb8EH2kDwFXkpfTotf9dOBhXc2wsXB3gdv/s1600-h/flowers_on_spring.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; kt=&quot;true&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVz_pkFFF_Ftb2p14G4ivUJlQjsVCu0YjAyKuFgg-1C3Q5xoPvJfX5MYe5ztxPoSIkYVw48hyphenhyphensAhM6gEqDHu_ZORBBT3ulMiTfOxkjOUjwoOEb8EH2kDwFXkpfTotf9dOBhXc2wsXB3gdv/s200/flowers_on_spring.jpg&quot; width=&quot;153&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;Spring has hit and my family and I are going at full throttle these past few weeks. Whew. I am already tired. &lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
540. We signed one son up for Lacrosse and the other for Water Polo and they were already doing drama and guitar lessons. All that = something every day of the week! And that is with one car and a husband who works long hours and coaches a college team. It is a bit much, but not to bore you with our schedule, I wanted to share with you some recipes that allowed us to still eat at home and not fall for the fast-food trap. <br />
541. <br />
542. So here are some I-am-busier-than-heck recipes:<br />
543. <br />
544. I am not much into crock pots because frankly my mornings are too busy to cut up potatoes or carrots – but here is one you just have to dump and go.<br />
545. <br />
546. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg95CBE_SHuiR7BVF_xg0jlNzvZf1XaRbJ80fvNKgtvESaq4ILMHFRMRyPMQqQf4B475enewX5n87zp7Hmu8vvxBFHbtEyqQbInjaKNHw1NHtA_tw8_43V9zVoLCaIddJyDd7hPMxcSEqFA/s1600-h/RoadSignBlueSkyPinkDrink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg95CBE_SHuiR7BVF_xg0jlNzvZf1XaRbJ80fvNKgtvESaq4ILMHFRMRyPMQqQf4B475enewX5n87zp7Hmu8vvxBFHbtEyqQbInjaKNHw1NHtA_tw8_43V9zVoLCaIddJyDd7hPMxcSEqFA/s200/RoadSignBlueSkyPinkDrink.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><strong>Crock Pot Chicken</strong><br />
547. • Frozen Chicken breasts<br />
548. • Dry Italian dressing packets (found in the dressing aisles. They are a bit pricier than expected so if you have a better idea, please let me know.)<br />
549. • Cream of chicken soup<br />
550. • Cream cheese<br />
551. <br />
552. <strong>Faked Baked Pasta</strong><br />
553. • Cook rigatoni<br />
554. • Add low fat cottage cheese<br />
555. • Brown ground sausage<br />
556. • Mushrooms<br />
557. • Red sauce (I did not add the red sauce)<br />
558. • Layer with shredded cheese in a casserole dish<br />
559. • Microwave 5 minutes.<br />
560. <br />
561. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uXONqQa7rvAvwAZeyWUOeDMcERKX6xL-m4xYCcp9MSDNCnVaoDqTeqoGfLsWNO2foyNtVQjEFia_rTS1RkH4pS6VA5wy4pLg1F3UtxhZ1eFLzFkmzB4xrNxoLPArf0xJTo97y5UCJytZ/s1600-h/cooking-salt-in-pot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" kt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uXONqQa7rvAvwAZeyWUOeDMcERKX6xL-m4xYCcp9MSDNCnVaoDqTeqoGfLsWNO2foyNtVQjEFia_rTS1RkH4pS6VA5wy4pLg1F3UtxhZ1eFLzFkmzB4xrNxoLPArf0xJTo97y5UCJytZ/s200/cooking-salt-in-pot.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><strong>Another Chicken Concoction</strong><br />
562. • Chicken thighs<br />
563. • Catalina dressing<br />
564. • Sliced onions<br />
565. • Bell peppers<br />
566. • Spices<br />
567. • Cook in oven one hour<br />
568. <br />
569. Tonight we ate Stouffers Enchiladas and a can of corn. Got to do what one has gotta do. Do you have any quick recipes to put together after a long day of work and carting the kids around? Please share.<br />
570. <br />
571. <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #351c75;">There is a new post each week - to receive the next one in your <br />
572. inbox you can “subscribe” (which is totally free) by clicking </span><a href="http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #351c75;">here</span></a><span style="color: #351c75;">.<br />
573. Enter e-mail address in top right corner.</span> </div><br />
574. __________________________________________________________<br />
575. <br />
576. Stay tuned: some upcoming posts that I have been thinking about are building your child&#39;s self-esteem, why don&#39;t we talk about our marriage, how children with challenges have changed mom&#39;s lives, and more!</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/2715903655080934542/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/03/some-quick-recipes-for-those-busy-weeks.html#comment-form' title='4 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/2715903655080934542'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/2715903655080934542'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/03/some-quick-recipes-for-those-busy-weeks.html' title='Some Quick Recipes For Those Busy Weeks'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVz_pkFFF_Ftb2p14G4ivUJlQjsVCu0YjAyKuFgg-1C3Q5xoPvJfX5MYe5ztxPoSIkYVw48hyphenhyphensAhM6gEqDHu_ZORBBT3ulMiTfOxkjOUjwoOEb8EH2kDwFXkpfTotf9dOBhXc2wsXB3gdv/s72-c/flowers_on_spring.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>4</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4787381482400726509.post-810622618798882073</id><published>2010-02-21T21:13:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2010-03-10T12:06:42.382-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Kids"/><title type='text'>So When Can Our Kids Do That?</title><content type='html'>&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLdkkGTVJSVeLlLqALJoHQqRUXhSkTAWBJA-fLXDPijmFk0-fFrYfe4l8eJ7M-_Tv9atl4yRBgR-OH0jjlJ9JUsGVDMkjlBXGJKqfix1v9u2MV-7K5GPAGSuvrG7pRpTmH3hhtv0zKPKH/s1600-h/growup.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;200&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLdkkGTVJSVeLlLqALJoHQqRUXhSkTAWBJA-fLXDPijmFk0-fFrYfe4l8eJ7M-_Tv9atl4yRBgR-OH0jjlJ9JUsGVDMkjlBXGJKqfix1v9u2MV-7K5GPAGSuvrG7pRpTmH3hhtv0zKPKH/s200/growup.jpg&quot; vt=&quot;true&quot; width=&quot;181&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;During the first year of our child’s life, we pretty much know what to expect our child to be doing each month: when they should be lifting their head, sitting up, eating solid foods, standing, crawling, walking, and then talking. Each stage is rather well documented. &lt;br /&gt;
577. <br />
578. Now, they may not have lifted their head as soon as the guideline suggested, but they may have lifted it a bit before or soon after and it is nice to have some sort of “guideline.” <br />
579. <br />
580. With my older child as an example, he talked before he walked and he didn’t walk until he was 18 months old. He was talking as he was crawling around the house – come to think of it that sounds kind of creepy. And I have to admit, he has not stopped talking since.<br />
581. <br />
582. The next few years are not too much of a mystery as to what our child will do either. There are magazine articles, blog posts, and online essays completely dedicated to the early stages of a child’s life. Then something happens at about age five years old. Not so much is written about that age and up and not so many parents’ are talking about what stage their child is in at that point.<br />
583. <br />
584. So I would like to know when we should allow our kids to do certain things and have certain items. <br />
585. <br />
586. When are our kids ready for:<br />
587. <div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
588. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggP0LJ-fCDpkN-Inxjx-HR06pY53nHvhvMl3kicvyg0BjZTzI6AS0yAQW7Pl7GSzSGxuzh2Z2h3Dc6Hdqi1SeMrkm_qOvOkZb8kEYnbFXolqZ0gJHXbgtLqfTXCQqNHbR-ziXh2FkwVepL/s1600-h/iphone_upright_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggP0LJ-fCDpkN-Inxjx-HR06pY53nHvhvMl3kicvyg0BjZTzI6AS0yAQW7Pl7GSzSGxuzh2Z2h3Dc6Hdqi1SeMrkm_qOvOkZb8kEYnbFXolqZ0gJHXbgtLqfTXCQqNHbR-ziXh2FkwVepL/s200/iphone_upright_2.jpg" vt="true" width="167" /></a></div>• taking their own shower</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
589. • making their own breakfast or sandwich</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
590. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">• packing their own lunch</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
591. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">• choosing their own clothes</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
592. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">• being alone in the house and for how long</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
593. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">• riding their bike alone for how long and how far</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
594. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">• wearing makeup</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
595. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">• having a cell phone</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
596. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Please share with me when your child or niece or nephew or grandchild was allowed to do these things. When do you think they are ready?</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
597. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue;">There is a new post each week - to receive the next one in your <br />
598. inbox you can “subscribe” (which is totally free) by clicking </span><a href="http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: blue;">here</span></a><span style="color: blue;">. <br />
599. Enter e-mail address in top right corner.&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/feeds/810622618798882073/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/02/so-when-can-our-kids-do-that.html#comment-form' title='5 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/810622618798882073'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/4787381482400726509/posts/default/810622618798882073'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://sharonmsmith.blogspot.com/2010/02/so-when-can-our-kids-do-that.html' title='So When Can Our Kids Do That?'/><author><name>Unknown</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLdkkGTVJSVeLlLqALJoHQqRUXhSkTAWBJA-fLXDPijmFk0-fFrYfe4l8eJ7M-_Tv9atl4yRBgR-OH0jjlJ9JUsGVDMkjlBXGJKqfix1v9u2MV-7K5GPAGSuvrG7pRpTmH3hhtv0zKPKH/s72-c/growup.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>5</thr:total></entry></feed>

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