Meg's Musings

Cell Phone's Vacation

2009-01-17T09:57:00.002-05:00

My cell phone went on a vacation without me. I figured it was just somewhere dead in the house and when we were finished with painting the crap room blue I'd find it. Nope. It went to Kentucky. I think it had too much fun. Now it's back, but it won't take a charge:(

Poor cute little green cell phone.
I will get you a new battery today.

I. Am. So. Mad. I. Could. Scream.

2009-01-08T21:37:00.003-05:00

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

And just to complete my little whineasode from last time:

Cut to the morning of December 19th. It's 6:15 in the a.m. Meg stumbles down the narrow and perilous stairs, wearing her (very cute and favorite) sock monkey slippers.

Sound effect: SLOSH.
Meg: ARGGH!
David (sleepily and sure his wife is stressing about something in Lansing): Wha...?
Meg: (incoherent and possibly profane mumbling)
David: What?

Eventually Dave rolled out of bed and came downstairs to find me desperately sopping up water from the bathroom floor, the hallway, the spare bedroom and the dining room. He helped. The toilet had started to run backward during the night due to our interesting plumbing issues. This resulted in gallons of clean (well, it looked like clean) water running out of it all over the wood floors. At least we don't have carpets and the floor vents emptied lots of it into the basement where it completely soaked the English 10B curriculum, the Drama pull box and the wrapping paper. Eh, it makes for good motivation to throw things out.

Now if the %$#!%^@W^& @*^@#^&@* @*^#@&^% mortgage company (currently known as WTF rather than WF around our house) and former tenants would just move out of our lives....Hey, at least the new owners have the keys.

Surface & Dive

2008-12-18T23:04:00.003-05:00

You know how sometimes you go to bed, cuddle down under the covers and just know it will all look better in the morning? I’m soooooo not there tonight.

Truthfully, it’s been kinda a rough year. The job is good, the husband is great, but the rest of it…meh.

Last night was worse than it has been though. Our water heater crapped out last Saturday. It was leaking gallons of water everywhere in the basement (blessing: it’s situated away from most of the valuable stuff and drained into the only working floor drain) but was still making enough tepid water so we could do quickish showers (though hair washing has been done in the sink with cold). So we’d turn it off and wait for the next time we HAD to use it or just go shower at the neighbors. Let me state for the record: cold showers during the holiday season do not stir up a festive spirit.

Today we finally got a new hot water heater installed. Yay!

I just tried to take my first hot shower in nearly a week. The water only trickled out. Boo.

It turns out when they replaced the water main out in the street a few weeks ago, the nice clean line increased everyone’s water pressure. Apparently the savvy homeowners who know about the effects of new lines on old houses got themselves down to their water shut off valves and twisted them until ordinary water pressure was restored. Us? Well, we thought it was weird we could suddenly exfoliate in the shower without even trying, but just went along our merry ways with extra-shiny skin.

Side note: hyphenate adjectives that describe adjectives when they are placed before a noun (e.g. extra-shiny skin low-flow shower head).

Return to regularly scheduled programing:

This extra pressure is probably what lead to the demise of our poor water heater’s tank. That, or perhaps the fact that it was installed in the same year Claus von Bulow was found guilty of attempting to murder his wife.

So this morning found us showering at the gym. I think I’ll do it again tomorrow. The fix-it guy (another hyphen, thank you), will be back with a regulator that will allow normal water pressure in our pipes again in the afternoon and then we can be done with that particular brand of silliness. Thank goodness I have a hubby who can work from home now and then.

Past that, we have an offer on the house. Yay! But the mortgage company has changed the numbers we have to work with to get rid of it. Boo.

Tax guy says it’s an ok deal. Real estate agent says it isn’t. Dad thinks it’s ok. CFO at work thinks it’s crap. Financial counselor from church is not ready to make a recommendation, but seems to be leaning toward it’s livable, but very bad for a very long while. The deficit we’d still be liable for is a dreamender when added to our other debts. No starting the adoption process in 2009. No going part time to care for a baby. No trading up for a car that has under 120K miles on it and doesn’t need monthly trips to the shop. And our credit will still go up in smoke. BUT, we’d be free of that house….and it’s only money.

The final thing that’s been on my mind is Grandpa. He’s continuing to slide. It’s tough to talk to him on the phone and have him forget who I am every few sentences. I’m usually one of my aunts to him. Bums me out.

The communication moratorium has been lifted (we went to court with the tenants, nothing happened, we get to go back January 28th), but I’m kind of a Debbie Downer at the moment and having a hard time getting started talking to friends again since we’ve been blowing through all 1500 of our minutes trying to sort out the house. And then:

A girl fell to her death at our church last night.(www.crossroads.net)

The "Taliband" gang was busted in our neighborhood a few weeks ago.

And our deaf neighbor had his house broken into last Friday. Who does that?

Um, God? Could you please recheck your plan on this stuff? ‘Cause it seems kinda, um, well, crappy, to be part of some universal purpose.

But really, all is not doom and gloom. We get to see David’s family in a few days, both have somewhat secure jobs, have just completed Financial Peace University (and loved the group we went through it with). We have our health and each other (I love, love, love the patient, encouraging, gentle man I’m married to.). It really doesn’t matter that that nice couple we were starting to really connect with turned out to be swingers. We’ll still love them, just at a bit more of a distance emotionally.

So that’s the first update in a long time. It’s not as hearts and flowers as I’d have liked, but it is what it is (and I hate that phrase and use it anyway). Eh, tomorrow I dive right back in. This too shall pass.

Tension & Silence

2008-08-04T22:20:00.002-04:00

A huge weight has been lifted this weekend. Our renters are finally out of the house. On advice of counsel we've been silent on this one to anyone living in MI since early May and trying desperately not to pull anyone into the muck with us but I'm not sure we can avoid it. I just can't seem not to talk about it because it's always there in my mind. Cat's wedding is going to be tough.

There's about to be a court battle royale over the terms of the lease and the condition of the house and it is going to be uggggggly. I pray a lot these days. Had I only known a year ago...

After the horror of the house this weekend, we did slip off to the lake and jump through waves until we were exhausted then went back to The Darkhorse for romantic pizza & beer at the same table we sat at for our first date. That was nice and relieved some of the ever-thickening tension that's crept in.

My goal is for this to be done by Pete & Jenny's anniversary. But who knows?

Quote of the Day:

2008-07-07T23:21:00.001-04:00

Husband: "Not ship-ships. Spaceships. (rolls eyes) Obviously."

2008-06-22T13:56:00.002-04:00

I think I handle transitions pretty well. I don't freak (much). I tend to be proactive. I do a reasonable job of keeping my mouth shut when things are going less than swimmingly until they're on an upturn or someone can actually do something besides listen to me complain.

I've decided marriage has made me lazy. I can always come home to my best friend. I've also got the still kinda new duties of wifedom upon me. These two together quite effectively circumvent my (until now) rather effective method of meeting people by just tossing myself headlong into community activities until something clicks.

So this is the conversation over the last year between me & God.

Me: Can I have a girlfriend now?

God: Wait

Me (while trying to volunteer at the local church association that won't let me volunteer because I live int hte community. D.U.M.B.): Can I have a girlfriend here?
God: Nope. Wait.

Me (while returning a vase to Macy's, meeting a cool gal and being offered her number for dinner sometime): This one?
God: Um, no.
Me: So I should just....
God: Yup. Wait.

Me (while trying to join BSF): Maybe here?
God: I'm thinkin' not.

Me (while trying out the various bible studies at church): C'mon, it's church dang it!
God: Ok, try it, but I'm just sayin'...

Me: That sucked.
God: Yup. Wait.

Me: ARGH!!!!!
God: Ok, I don't think you're getting this. W-A-I-T. You've got Facebook and a husband.

Me: Ok. Can I at leas ttake the pottery class?
God: How about in November?
Me: sigh. Ok.

Um... I was Up Late! and forgot to actually post this...

2008-06-14T01:16:00.004-04:00

I've been considering calling all of you because, hey, I just don't do the phone thing much (and it's past 1am. We are not college students anymore people). I'm always happy when I do, but overall I find the phone to be a great way to connect with people but I hate leaving voice mails (I turn into a babbling idiot) and, like tonight, I usually think about calling at completely inappropriate times.

So I signed up for Facebook tonight. I think I might have done it in the past, but I've forgotten whatever it was I used as an account. I hope it's more fun when I have confirmed some friends (since it's a cyberspace thing does that make facebook friends just virtual friends?)

My other activity this week has been painting the kitchen. EIGHT coats of fire engine red paint later the top half is done. I did 5 coats in December, then lost heart and gave up for a few months. Now all of my K side aunts + two cousins are coming for dinner in two weeks....needless to say, they are the source for my inspiration.

Also, it's amazing how much better life gets when you stop taking the crazy pills. Heck, I've been openly cheerful around the office while everyone else's head was exploding.

I'm also on my fifth attempt at knitting a scarf thing for Amy. She gave me much desired knitting needles for my birthday and I've been trying to do a simple stitch scarf since April. Heck, I even had tutoring from the incredible Tori while I was out in CA. I'm still dropping stitches and having the thing unravel. I think the fact I've been attempting to learn in whopping 10-15 minutes increments is not helping. But I'm getting enough fun out of it to keep at it. Her birthday is in early July...if you had a birthday in early July would you A) want a scarf? B) Want a badly knitted scarf?

I have a crying headache

2008-05-30T16:54:00.003-04:00

I bought the socks. They felt nice. I cried.

I looked at H/J wedding pictures. They were beautiful. I cried.

The dog gave me kisses on my ankles. It was gross. I cried.

The doctor told me it'd be another week before I readjust. That was bad news. I cried.

Now I remember why I got off this drug seven years ago.

So I Am a Crazy Lady

2008-05-22T23:05:00.004-04:00

I've been waiting until I was in a better mood to write, but it seems my general disgruntledness is not going to evaporate in the immediate future. I have nothing huge to complain about, it's just that some huge things have been going on around me and I cna't seem to find my balance. I'm still projecting cheerful/serene, but I'm all in knots inside and only the husband is around but I've needed some real honest-to-goodness girlfriend/guyfriend laughter.

But that's not going to happen soon. Not time to trip up to Lansing. I tried to join BSF. No go. I tried to join a small group. Great fit age, goals, and fun-wise, but the group the church dumped me in with was all single girls. I'm all for the single ladies, but they were not all for me. Since they've only known me as a married, I just couldn't seem to establish a "me" identity in the group and got lots of comments about how easy I have it now that I'm not looking for a man until I couldn't take it anymore. Sigh. I hope I was less irritating when the roles were reversed. Probably not. Anyway, it was mostly a social club-- not exactly the spiritual challenge I was looking for. Small groups are re-forming all the time at a huge church, maybe the next one will work a bit better or maybe we'll do a couples one once Dave is done with his class. I never thought I'd miss Lansing so much when I'd been slowly unplugging from it for years.

Still, I'm getting to know my neighbors better, slowly getting to know people at work and making a few friends at a discussion group we attend. There' s hope. And it took two years to get plugged back into Lansing after Egypt.

There's also just plain been a lot going on. Work has the biggest project it's ever handled (a superfund environmental cleanup ) going on, which is good for my learning curve. We had a gas leak the gas company didn't believe existed until I sent them a picture of our dead grass out front (then they showed up at 10pm and stayed until well past midnight). Grandpa is still holding on, but is no longer manufacturing red blood cells & needing regular transfusions. Do I ask God for more time with him, or pray for an easy passing? I'm still miserabley torn. We nearly evicted our renters this month (lalala, twenty days late on rent). That took a lot of prayer but was probably really good for my character (wry smirk). Anybody know how bad a thing it is if your car seems to be losing a fair amount antifreeze, but doesn't seem to be leaking? And I'm thinking someone's messing with our mail. These are the bad things, but there is good. Seeing my mentally handicapped cousin get married was a life-affirming event. We've been working on the yard--turning it from weeds to grass and some small plants that will fill out in a year or so. Tom & Liesel reenacted their wedding, our first anniversary is nearly here.

Add to this that I had a very disturbing conversation with an old friend about some issues in their life and don't think I managed it very well, have completely forgotten a bridal shower this weekend I was supposed to help with, learned an aquaintance died before (what I'd have called) her time (but apparently God's time and my time are on different times. No question. I lose.)

I have been struck by the passing of Susan H. It's a quiet grief. I knew her from a distance, friend of friend type thing for the most part. But I remember when she and Joel started dating. I remember seeignthem at weddings. I remember a sweet, unassuming spirit in her, I grieve for a life ended early, a young husband without his wife raising a child that will not hold memories of his mother's kiss. I know heaven is good. I know Jesus is waiting. I know pain ends and the experiences she's having make this life a shadowland, but it's no less painful for those left here and not one of us would choose to enter it before our stories are played out here. Peace & grace upon you Joel & Noah, peace and grace upon you who loved her.

There's emotional pain, and then there's physical pain. As some of you know (and some are completely unaware), I've struggled with endometriosis for years. Look it up, I'm not explaining that one.

Anywho, this means I've been on different hormone pills (translate: birth control pills) since 1995. No study shows that this is definatively harmful, nor definatively helpful. BUT, they do seem to be the best shot at preserving fertility. Unfortunately, after a time, my body adjusts itself to the pills and I'm back where I started--cysts, pain that wakes me up at night and other such exciting symptoms.

Add to this, the family of drug I do a round of every few years, the best one by far, has the side effect of "psychological problems" in some patients. Turns out I'm "some patients" and the side effects are insane mood swings, crying, believing everyone hates me and I'm incompetent. My focus goes. This doesn't help with the feeling competent piece.
I use the generic version until it's not effective, then take the full-strength version until I can't take it anymore.

I started the generics in December. I've been on the pure stuff since the first week of April. I spent last Tuesday night crying because I couldn't go to the H/J wedding and had to get up a 2am to drive to PA for my cousin's instead. It started on the way home from work when I realized my cruise control was dead and didn't fully end until bedtime. What the heck?

So now I'm off it and on a lesser version. And I was up three times last night with a sheer burning pain in my side. Now what?

Basically, I'm dealing once again with the "big questions". I thought eventually I'd grow out of this and settle into a placid peace in which I slowly, deliberately, walked with God and the rest of it faded to the background. Am I really a grown up? I'm scared.

Expectations

2008-04-14T18:59:00.002-04:00

I think my expectations are too high when it comes to Macs. Everybody talks about them as if they’re the holy grail of computerdom, but ya know, I’m just not al that impressed.

Call me a blasphemer, I know it’s tragically uncool to be hating on the Mac, but I’m just not in love here. Its battery only has about four hours of life, the startup disk is constantly full and we’re having a heck of a time keeping it configured to our crappy internet service. Add to that: the power cord cost $32 more than my old Dell’s to replace, the locking mechanism is shot, the software we want costs more AND it’s less than three years old (my old laptop managed a good six years before giving up the ghost).

Harrumph. I’m crabby at it.

As for other expectations, they have been wonderfully exceeded lately. The weekend before my birthday my husband surprised me by sending me out for a hot stone massage at a local day spa (this was nothing short of heavenly) and when I got home…..

He’s making me a chocolate cheesecake. Yum-O! I’m a blessed girly.

Funny Story...

2008-04-14T18:57:00.000-04:00

Last Tuesday I looked up from my book to see a five year old standing in my living room. Surprise!

But how did he get there you may ask?

Well, I shall tell you.

Next door we have a pair of five year old boys who think we are cooler than the proverbial cucumbers and way more interesting than TV (yay).

On Sunday we asked them into the yard to play frisbee/chase with the dog and dig in the dirt with us (we planted a cherry tree and two tomato plants). Eventually they had to go home, as do most little boys.

An important point to this story is that Grayson sometimes has a small issue recognizing children as tiny humans. We’ve been rather afraid of what might happen should one inadvertently get over our 5ft fence.

Now at least we know that should a known five year old advertently scale said fence, he will not only not be eaten, but will be brought in the house to be admired as a prize.

Imagine my surprise when I looked up from the Island of the Sequined Love Nun to see my dog being trailed by a ridiculously cute and ridiculously muddy little boy. Ah, bliss!

His parents…not so happy.

This has also made me think a bit about our neighborhood. I love our neighborhood. Love, love, love it. I love walking to the coffee shop. I love walking to the library. I love that there are people of different colors. I love that the Christians here don’t think liberal is a dirty word and love whoever shows up. I love that I know my neighbors and that we have parades. I love that we have a corner drug store that carries penny candy and is owned by the guy whose name is on the sign. I love that I can take the bus downtown and I love the old Victorians along the main drag. I love that I’m on a first-name basis with the lady at the post office. I love that my dog is welcome at the tavern.

That said, I’ve had some sad, scary revelations this past week. I walked out the door of my house last Friday at 6:30 am (I lead a meeting at 7 on Fridays), and saw that the vacant house next door had its front door wide open and all the lights on. I called the realtor and called the police and went to work. Eight hours later I came home and talked to the guy who lives on the other side of the house. He’s mostly deaf, so he certainly didn’t hear anything. But he had seen the police arrive and told me all the copper piping (including the under the cabinet stuff) had been ripped out. How did I not hear this heinous destruction? Not even the dog got up.

Second story: I found out one of my coworkers was shot during a mugging in broad daylight after coming out of a pizzeria in the next neighborhood north of us. I’ve been down that alley. So what’s up with that?

Oddly, this doesn’t change my feelings much about living here, but it does make me leery of certain streets and grateful for a large barky dog. Sigh. I hate living in a sinful world.

2008-03-20T22:43:00.002-04:00

I've breifly wrested the computer form my husband's cold, sweaty hands (I forgot and left the humidifier on all day, opps). One computer in a house like ours during an election year. David's all over the Obama. I think he's single-handedly supporting RealClearPolitics.

As for me, the new job is going well. I don't have any down time during the day and have to fight to get in a lunch break, but that was true in the classroom too. Way less stress than teaching, but I miss the kids and actually kinda miss the status.

As for events down here, I'm hoping to get into a BSF study the second week of April--I'm number 8 on the waiting list. Is it ok to pray that eight people decide their lives are too busy for it this spring? It's an ethical dilemma.

We went to a famous church ravioli supper this past weekend at Sacred Heart. It was an experience--they shout at you, herd you in, sling around the ravioli and sauce they've been prepping for a week like it's a sport and meet all sorts of people. It's barely controlled chaos and it's wonderful and the 4,000 meals they serve just about cover another six months of operating costs. Pretty cool.

We also finally bought a bed(!). Yea! I can't help being ridiculously happy about this.

Ikea opened here a few weeks ago. We went last night and had dinner. David was impressed in spite of himself:)

And that's that. We're boring, but happy. Love to all!
Meg

New News

2008-02-28T17:30:00.002-05:00

I.
Am.
Having.
A.

JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Dance!
Abuse of Exc!amation points!
Wish Blogspot's speeel cheeeeeck would work!

The details:

I shall be temp-to-hire! (it's like getting engaged to a job.)
I shall be paid better than a temp! (temping is like dating a company. Right down to the coffee.)
I shall work 40 hours per week!
I shall edit things!
I shall type things!
I shall prepare reports!
I shall work at an enviromental consulting firm!!!!!!!!!
I shall have an hour for lunch!
I shall use the bathroom whenever I please!
I shall listen to a radio station that feature early 90s music on my 20 minute commute! (which makes me think perhaps I am old.)
I shall be able to joyfully give 8 wedding and 3 baby gifts this year without illegally donating a kidney!

I shall now go fix dinner for my husbandidoh!

2008-02-14T11:30:00.002-05:00

Hi folks,

Just in case you're wondering, I'm still answering email form the last month. Don't feel snubbed if you haven't heard form me yeet. Job search is still on. I'm sick again. David doesn't believe that I have ever had the fabled teacher's immunity. I have to admit, if my wife had had three sicknesses in four months, I'd be suspicious too.

So I'm home sick watchign Rachael Ray. Which is fine, I only work Monday-Wednesday at the data entry job (until the gig is up March 3--then hopefully there will be another. So we pray). Still, I was really looking forward to dinner out and warm Valentine's Day events. But I do have a treadmill showing up in few hours. Yay!

As a teacher I averaged 4 miles a day. As a data entry person, I average less than 1/2 a mile. Yikes. We also joined the husband's work's gym. It's a bit out of the way, but has yoga, pilates and a nautilus circuit (as well as all the other stuff gyms have) for a total membership fee of $36 per month. Rockin'. Compare to the Y: 1 mile closer, $42 less per month. The answer is always 42.

2008-02-07T20:34:00.000-05:00

Well, we're back up and running, though I had started to adjust to the lack of internet access. Something went horribly wrong in January--either someone co-opted our modem, or our mac stopped talking to it or the provider was screwed up. Not that I'll ever figure it out or care to, but I felt I owed folks some explanation. It reminded me of living overseas. 1-2 minutes of access at a time is just enough to upload a document and send it, but not much else. Hubby had work computers so he was good. I have a work computer, but let's face it, as a lowly temp, there's not much tolerance for personal work.

That stated, I'll be galumping through the 456 email I've recieved in the last month tomorrow. Perhaps this mixture of excitement and dread is what Noel goes through on a daily basis. Yay email!

As for me, I'm still searching for a job, missing the LOST parties at the Newmans and painting yet another kitchen red.

As for David, he's rabidly supporting Obama (I am a sensible amount of exictedly supporting Obama as well).

As for us, we held a petition drive to try to influence the superdelgates, went to Japanese One World Wednesday, have taken up yoga (neither of us is more than not-so-bendy yet and our instructor is a walking sterotype. When he starts talking about the inner light I mentally roll my eyes. Did you know die-hard yogis don't wear underwear during class?), prepping for Tom's wedding ceremony, seeing "Wicked" with Em & John, organizing a voter registration drive Saturday and cuddling on the couch trying to stay warm a lot.

It's also been a big crazy month for Death. Yes, "capital d"-Death as in the personage or idea of death. My great Uncle Leroy died two weeks ago and grandpa continues on his way out. Appropriately, I just finished reading A Breif History of the Dead. Which was fabulous, if fully fictional.

No, I don't believe in purgatory or a waiting room for heaven (though I think the idea of believers "sleeping" or being "at rest" is an indication that our time and time of time in God's mind don't fully overlap or disconnect or butt up against each other in quite the way that would make it easiest for us to take in).

That said, the book tells a story of a place of waiting that the dead cross into to wait until they are forgotten in the land of the living. It's much like a shadow of earthly life, without the cycle of birth, growth, and death. A epidemic breaks out on earth, everyone dies but one, last, lonely, person. The story is too good to be ruined or retold without the skill and depth of the original, so I'll stop there.

The important part for me has been this idea that death is an impermanent state as long as memories of that life persist. I know that it's so much more than that--life is life eternal for the one who leaves this world for

Political Widow

2008-01-06T10:57:00.000-05:00

My husband watches politics like other men watch football. With Iowa last week, the ABC debates last night, and New Hampshire on the horizon… well, I’m just glad we don’t have cable.

There was shouting at the TV.
And he’s started calling Huckabee “Houseplant”.

Jobs. Sigh.

2008-01-06T10:51:00.000-05:00

Mmm. I’m still looking for a job. Actually, I’ve found a job I want—they just need to want me. I'm sure I could be good at the job and it's a company that I can believe in. And I could proofread! And I liked my interviewers! I have a tremendous desire to send each of the them a fruit basket and shout “Pick me! Pick me!” at their windows. I am restrained by the knowledge that it’s not proper professional conduct to do so. I think I did well in the first half of the interview, but during the behavioral I was less stunning. Sigh. Time to sit down and pray. I wanna work there:)

There is another one on the horizon that’s interesting—I’m just not sure they have the job particularly well defined. This troubles me. In education it’s very much “Here’s your job. Do it and everything else that might come up or need to be done to do this job excellently.” And that means the job gets massive and unwieldy quite quickly unless excellence is optional for the teacher. It’s not optional for me, and I’m not up for playing the saint who lives at her job and works both days of the weekend again.

Marital Communication

2008-01-06T10:48:00.000-05:00

Snapshot from our night Friday as we were trying to decide what to do about dinner:

D: How about sushi?
M: How about Puerto Rican?
D: We eat Indian a lot.
M: Yeah. And we just had BBQ last week in Pensacola.
D: How about Coreanne?
M: Huh?
D: Core-re-anne.
M (still puzzled): Huh?
D (slower and louder): Kore-re-anne. Kore-re-ann.
(M looks puzzled)
M: Oh! Korean! Sure!
(both laugh)
D: Nah, let’s order pizza.

I spiak englersh good.

Better, but still shouldn't be cooking it seems...

2007-11-29T17:59:00.000-05:00

Dinner's in the oven.

Can't tell ya how long it's been in there.
Or what it's going to turn out to be. Heck. I'm usually a pretty good throw-together cook. Things generally turn out edible. Of course, the fact that Grayson wasn't up for liking the mixing bowl isn't really a good sign is it? I mean, he was fighting David to eat things off the floor I'd already eaten once earlier in the week. Ok, ok, TMI, I know. Still I wrote it and it's there! And we know nothing can ever be deleted from the electronic universe! Oh, I should probably clarify that only Grayson wanted the vomit to eat. David had other, more sanitary, plans for it.

Anyway, I looked in the fridge tonight and found frozen ground pork! Genuis! Eggrolls it is!

But then when I looked in the fridge I got distracted by the pretty feta cheese.

So I reopened the freezer and pulled out some spinach for Spanikopita. Mmmmm..... iron.

But then I reopened the fridge and dumped a dollop of ginger paste on the browning pork. And realized there was no cabbage for the eggrolls.

But then I saw the tomatoes. Oh, the droolingly good hothouse tomatoes our neighbors gave us. Yay neighbors with hothouse.

So I added some phyllo dough, olive oil and garlic and put it in the oven.

Bet Dave eats it anyway.

Ah, heavy drug induced stupor.

We're not in Kansas anymore.

2007-11-29T16:27:00.000-05:00

Um... since when does Santa hang out on the ocean floor and rappel off skyscrapers?
http://www.wcpo.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=fe8c2b9e-8107-47f1-a046-b2df44adff45

Oh my. I've moved into a very, very strange little world.

Well, at least the sky is still blue.

I Never Got Sick Like This When I Was Teaching

2007-11-29T12:53:00.000-05:00

Truth. I'm not even lying.

Happy Thanksgiving y'all! I hope the turkey day was bright and shiny and reminded each of all he or she has been blessed with.

As for us, we managed to get into NYC by 6pm, goof off with the inlaws for a bit and still settle in for a good night's sleep. Elissa put on a great feast on Friday and we took his youngest sister in to Chinatown on Saturday (had a heck of a time getting back). Brunch on Sunday and it was time to go home. Quick, easy trip. Except for the sick part.

I have never been in NYC without being sick. From a mission trip in high school in the middle of summer while I had a sinus infection (not so bad), to the year Em & I went to Times Square with friends (very bad--I had to try to clean up their entire bathroom at 3am without waking anyone), I have been sick, sick, sick.

This time around I started to feel ill on Thrusday, but managed to fake it until we were in the car on the way home Sunday. There's nothing quite like being out with your sister-in-law and her cool friends doing cool stuff and feeling like elves are doing the samba in your throat. No more babysitting for sick kids for me! No sirry-bob.

But now I am better. My husband said that on Monday and Tuesday I looked like I was considering just maybe crawling into a corner to curl up and die, but now I'm just pale and shaky.

That said I have to say it's way cooler to have a David than my parents around when I'm sick. My parents were always the type to give me some pills and leave me on the couch to get better with as little other contact as possible. Sick kids did get full control of the remote.

David's all like "what can I get you?" and "do you need me to take you to ready care?" and "I can clean that up for you." and "Don't cry honey, you're going to feel all right again soon." Dang, I married a great guy. He even went to the store yesterday at 7am to buy saltines and gatorade before he left for work.

Ok that's the end of my non-story. Off to find my cellphone charger.

I love being married.

2007-11-21T23:04:00.000-05:00

I made povitica, so David wrote the Thanksgiving Email to my family.
I had to work so David got the supplies for the trip.
I made the dinner and David did the dishes
I cleared off the porch & took out the trash so he deposited my paycheck & took the dog to dog camp.
I packed the car so David did the laundry.

Sure is easier than being single.

2007-11-21T22:51:00.000-05:00

Ok, so the whole "Riverview is an idol" thing. It's pretty weird. I know the body is all over the place and in so many churches. But I've loved being at Riv so much I think I've put it up on a silly pedestal. I've been down here visiting churches and catagorically ruling them out. Which has been, on the whole, good. There are certain places we shouldn't be.

But we did find one. And we've been busily trying to talk ourselves out of it. I don't want to go to a church that doesn't have heat (not when it's kinda cold, not when it's freezing). I do like that they're taking the call to live their ministry so steadfastly. Can I manage that? Can I do the inner city renewal thing and really invest in the crazy communist-style community? I guess we'll see.

I love sushi. I love Wii. I love the people in Lansing. Thanks Jenny & Pete. 'night.

Ok, Brain Dump

2007-11-21T08:21:00.000-05:00

1. Saw a documentary last night with discussion group called "The Yes Men". Watched my husbands's eyes light up in the same way they do when I make povitica. Signed up to become a yes man.
Oh, go see it already.

2. I think Riverview has become an idol for me. I expected church on Sunday to be the best thing of the weekend--to go in, feel the fit, be challenged and walk out renewed. Was good. But didn't happen. Also, I realized I mentally hear all the signs posted around Riverview read out in Noel's voice ("Coffee", "Please do not throw hygiene products in the toilets. Please use the bins provided") except for the program/bullitien thing. I hear that in Steve's.

3. I've got to go to work, but have 8 more points.

Oh. My. Word.

2007-11-06T14:44:00.000-05:00

Quick Praise & Prayer Request:

One of my friends who has been trying to get pregnant for eight years just got the news that she's 2 months along with TRIPLETS!

Holy Cow.
Yay God.
Eeeps!

2007-10-29T16:10:00.000-04:00

Too much time on my hands right now. I'm filling it, but there's that restlessness I haven't felt in a while. Maybe it's the change of seasons, maybe it's the feeling of being anchored to the house, maybe it's just a general loneliness.

We were supposed to go up to Michigan this weekend. Some of David's friends invited us up for a Halloween party. And we needed it. We've been talking to each other a lot, but we're both aware we miss outside friendships. But I forgot I was enrolled in the motorcycle course for this weekend. Sigh.

But even as I type that I realise we've had more interaction than usual over the last week. Maybe the reminder that there are other people out there has messed up our isolationist satisfaction.

Had dinner with Emily, John & Cat in Harrision on Thursday night and that was refreshing. I haven't laughed so much or felt so into things for a while. Cat left on Friday night & we went to see "Gone, Baby, Gone" which spurred some serious conversation. I can't write about it (simply so I won't spoil its twists), but I'm interested to know what others thought. Pop me a note on email if you want to discuss. The basic question is should he have or shouldn't he have? I think it's a third answer but Dave & I have discussed it to death & I'm interested in other ideas.

Saturday & Sunday I took my Ohio basic motorcycle course. Wow. I went from not knowing how to turn the thing on to being able to swerve, stop, go over obstacles, corner in all sorts of situtations and other such fun. I always wanted to go dirt biking wiht the Lilly boys, but now that I've had the class, I'm kinda glad I learned slowly on a nice flat parking lot. I even got a little yellow disk for being the most improved rider (yes, I did dump the bike on the first day. Oddly, bikes are more like horses than anything else & I jumped off like I'd jump off a horse that was about to roll. Nothing but some bruised shins.). Motorcycle here I come!

Past that, tonight we have free passes to "Wristcutters" at the Esquire in Clifton. I'm just not so sure about this plot line. Hmmm.

Soooo....I was rejected by Starbucks last week. Talk about a downer. I was told I was a bad hiring risk. Hence my deep desire to see my husband and be reminded I am useful and wanted last week. Now I'm searching all sorts of work again. And sort of starting to write a little. Perhaps I shall participate in the "write a novel in a month" November thing.... I think I shall name my protagonist Sylvia.

2007-10-19T15:33:00.000-04:00

We're home from our much-delayed honeymoon/David's 33rd birthday in PR and had a great time. I'm still looking for a job (I was rejected by Starbucks yesterday, but interviewed to sub at a school this morning), David is working at his and we still have my friend Catherine staying with us (yay!). It's been fun to be home and read up on all that's happened in the last week.

Dave on the beach at the Hilton Ponce. They gave us very cheesy shirts for being honeymooners. We played a lot of Scrabble under that umbrella.

The cheesy shirt

At La Mina Falls in El Yunque rainforest

Sunset off the ferry to Culebra (we camped and snorkeled a lot)

The old Sherman tank that is stuck in the sands of Playa Flamenco. Lots of Culebra used to be a bombing range for the Navy & Marines. As a result, you get to swim with live ordinance (a very good reason not to touch the reefs) and occasionally come across big, dead, metal things. Personally, I think they just got the tank stuck in the sand and couldn't get it out so they blew it up.

The Dingy Dock was exactly the sort of place you hope you find on vacation--right on the water, huge taurpin fish swimming by the tables, great food and live entertainment. Right after this picture, our camera stopped working. Oh well.

2007-10-18T18:11:00.001-04:00

Sometimes I miss my husband while he’s at work.

I know. I’m pathetic.

But when that sore-sad, half-of-me-is-missing missing him hits all I can do is pop the ipod in the kitchen unit, open up the “for meg” playlist he made for me a long time ago when we could only stare soulfully into each others’ eyes once a week and scroll to this song (or not. The linky link isn't working with little imac today. Go to http://www.crowmedicine.com/audiovideo.html and listen to the video for "Wagon Wheel". Don't watch, just listen. video=dumb music=ahhh.)

Now the fact that it’s followed by Sir Mix-A-Lot’s butt song does ruin the melancholy.

2007-10-18T15:42:00.000-04:00

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Non-Reader
Fad Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

2007-10-18T11:08:00.000-04:00

Last night, 'round 'bout 4:30 in the am, a cat was heard making very loud Mauow! Mauow! noises down somewhere outside the 1st floor of our home. I briefly woke up, thought to myself, "Gosh that's a loud cat. Glad Zoley's inside during this pouring rain," and went back to dreamland bliss.

This morning, 'round 'bout seven in the am, I let the large, gray, stinky, dog out the back door and let in a suprisingly dry cat.

Now she's a limp lump & so tired she doesn't even care if I mess with her belly.

Hi-Ho! Hi-Ho! It's off to Puerto Rico we go!

2007-10-04T10:36:00.000-04:00

It's finally October and time for the Luna del Miel. I'm still jobless, but the house is tidier and more colorful than it was. Now, in addition to a sunny yellow living room and frighteningly carrot-colored dining room we have a very sexy deep red bedroom and the antebedroom is turning a lovely color known as "mimosa".

Still, I'm glad we're leaving town for a few days. Plans include: a night swim in the bioluminescent bay, time on the Hilton's black sand beach (too bad this means we're supporting Paris' lavish lifestyle), snorkeling, beach camping, two nights in the mongoose and waterfall-filled El Yunque Rainforest camping, time in Old San Juan, possibly meeting up with one of David's sister's friends at her restaurant, various food and cultural events and art museums.

Speaking of art museums, One World Wednesdays have started up again at the Cincinnati Art Museum again. We bought a museum membership (since the event is free for members vs. $8 per person non-members). They even waved Catherine in with us since we'd just bought the membership. Now we can go lots!

This time it was Carribean Islands-themed. Great music, great dancing, good drink samples, but where was the food from last year? Of course all the galleries are open too. Good times, good times.

Oh, for those who don't know who Cat is, here's a pic of her ringing the bell in the Touch & Learn Center:

Remember her attending the guest book at our wedding? Ok, never mind. Anyway, she's a med student at Wayne State and doing a rotation at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, so she's staying with us for the month. Yay friend! Ironically, the hospital is only 5-10 minutes down the street from us, but she has to drive 20 to a parking lot then ride a shuttle for another 20 back to the hospital.

2007-09-28T09:15:00.000-04:00

It's interesting to be looking for a church. Conversation between me and a leader from a church that looked pretty theologically sound on their website, but had kinda a weird statement when I asked how faith played out in their outreach program. That statement prompted this question:

Me: So what do you think is the purpose of the modern church?

Woman: To give people a place where they feel good about their relationship with God.

Me: Oh.

Oye. Well, maybe we just need to plug in somewhere and be the change, but I'm nervous about signing on with thiings as they are.

Puerto Rican Honeymoon in one week!

Tired of Transition

2007-09-25T10:22:00.000-04:00

Another Tuesday.

It's crazy hot and slightly looney humid again. We hit a new high temp for the day yeasterday. If today reaches 92 we'll have set a new record for # of hellishly hot days in one year. Don't ask me to define excatly what "hellishly hot" is. The fact that I'm using the term is evidence enough to show I haven't really been paying attention.

We went to a traditional Latin mass at the Covington Basilica on Sunday. We're pretty burnt out on the church search. I shouldn't be this hard to find a place to plug in. A service-oriented church with at least a minimal young adult/adult presence and some sort of youth program? Preferably a 10:30 or later start? I'd like to pretend we're ready to be out the door by 9:30, but actually, not so much. It hurt my heart to hear Dave say he wasn't jazzed about any of the options and I should just pick this week.

Then came the idea of the basilica. That lit him up. We've wanted to go for a while. With David's catholic upbringing he is drawn to the formality of the service. I just thought it was cool. I usually think of Jesus in jeans and a flannel--kinda the early '90s grunge, sit down on a log in the woods and hash things out type. I forget that he's a king with all the majesty and reverent honor attached. I definately got that in the service on Sunday. Kinda breathtaking.

Pair that will a stop off at the Greenup (dang! That's good.) and sittign out in the Hofbrau House Biergarten. Good afternoon. We even got out to the Mt. Airy Forest and played tall-hobbits-with-dog just before sundown. As the Sasquatch noted, Mt. Airy is beautiful in the fall, even if it's a drought season.

2007-09-17T11:45:00.000-04:00

It's cold here today. Mid-50s. What's up with needing A/C last week and thinking about turning on the heat this one?

Good weekend. We saw Pirates of the C with people on Friday. I kinda felt like I should ask what exactly that was. Visually stunning but the storyline was only loosely linked. So I think perhaps I am glad we saw it at the cheap theatre for $3.50.

King's Island was grand. It was a P&G thing so we came home with a lot of full size samples and rode rides until we hurt. Turns out the 'ole equilibrium isn't quite what it used to be. Highlight of the day: riding the Son of the Beast three times in a row with no wait and only one other couple with us. Or the superman flying tower thingy. So worth it.

Lowlight: the third ride on the SOB, we rode in the middle of the train rather than the front car. David described it as "a fun ride in which a man beat me violently in the middle back with a large stick" I just thought it felt like someone was shoving down on my head trying to compress my spine. Turns out there really is an advantage to the front seat.

Had a great walk in Mt. Airy with the pooch on Saturday. There's an uber-cool treehouse out there and several small suspension bridges, but past that, it's quite wild. We even got semi-lost and found a deer skull. Happily, we did not find a body like the runners that were out there a few weeks ago.

Speaking of crime, the United Dairy Farmers store near our house was robbed this morning around 8am. Kinda freaks me out when combined with the muggings in Clifton (one neighborhood over) and the car jacking in June. Glad we have large barky dog for me to wander the neighborhood with.

Prayer would also be appreciated for a job. Got one in the pipeline I'd like. They need to decide whether I'm qualified today and, if so, figure out interview stuff. I do want a job now-now.

I miss you people. It's hard to make friends in a new place. I love my hubby, and he's the best friend, but he's not the same deal as a bunch of like-minded/hearted folks to hang with.

I did meet someone I might perhaps be able to befriend in the wedding center at Macy's on Friday. Perhaps I'll call her for coffee this week.

Ok, back to work. Time to paint the trim in the bedroom!

2007-09-11T11:24:00.000-04:00

I saw a woman with triplets in the post office yesterday. May I be blessed, but not that blessed.

This was especially interesting as I hadd juat seen a PBS show about organ stress from foreign objects. Lots of pictures of people's bodies with stuff in them. Stuff included: tumor, washcloth, engorged appendix, single baby, twins, triplets, fat, cysts, one of those twins that gets absorbed into the other and just kinda hangs out internally until someone discovers it as well as violent trauma (a pole, a 4x4, a balloon- partially inflated, I missed how that got in there). And then after-removal shots. I'm a fan of seeing people sitting around without their skin on, but this was a bit wild. All sorts of goofy disfigurements. Most had reshaped to kind what they were like before after six months. Some were still wacky after TWO YEARS! Ew.

We're here. I have renters in Lansing. Temping is ok. I need a job. I like Cincinnati. Got to see Em & John on Saturday, yay!
We're going to a German beer tasting art event at the Taft on Thursday night. Cook out with the neighbors on Saturday. Kings Island on Sunday. That's mostly me on the surfacy stuff.

Opera & Dogs Barking

2007-08-06T09:05:00.000-04:00

Good grief it's hot one down here!

David's off to work this morning & I'm back to screening renters for
our house in Lansing. Sheesh.

It was a big weekend down here-- the message below was started
Saturday afternoon, but got interupted for a swim at the rec center
and then we headed out for pizza and a movie. I have to say, Dewey's
Green Lantern was excellent (Red sauce, goat cheese, light mozzarella,
mushrooms, pesto, garlic, artichokes), but still didn't hold a candle
to DeLuca's (nobody will compare until they use balls of fresh mozz).
After the pizza, we managed to get ourselves over to the movie theatre
for the late show of The Bourne Ultimatum--Great flick, I love a good
action movie and an action hero who's still mourning his dead
girlfriend a movie and a sequel later is a rarity & a bonus. Well
worth seeing on the big screen.

But on to Saturday's note:

Today was the neighborhood garage sale and we certainly did our part
of hauling out the excess stuff from our house and getting rid of it
at bargain prices. Since we just had the wedding, we had a ton of
low-grade, college-type stuff to get rid of (i.e.David had THREE
griddles/grills that mostly worked-- we replaced them with the one,
much easier to clean George Foreman). I finally let go of the shower
curtain I made during my junior year of college (was that really ten
years ago?)and matching towels; David said goodbye to a mismatched set
of very beat up pots and pans(two were stamped 1951).

It was a great way to meet the neighbors and find out a bit more aboutheir tastes--especially in literature. Next year I might even get rid
of some books--people actually asked for them! And we all know an
English teacher and her books are not easily parted. To his credit,
David has not asked me to get rid of any and didn't protest too much
when I saved a bunch from the sale pile.

Overall, it was a pretty good sale--we made enough to keep us in date
nights for a few weeks or buy shelves for the kitchen. On the down
side, it was crazy hot, humid and the neighbors down the street
BLASTED opera music all day. This kept all the neighborhood dogs
barking even when there were not people on their front lawns taking
things. We considered sedating Grayson.

Sadly, our house is now even more of a mess than before the sale due
to tossing things about looking for items to sell (it kinda snuck up
on us and I'm still not fully unpacked).

In other news, David brought home his baby tonight. Officailly, it's
our baby-- a bright yellow 650cc Suzuki Savage--but in reality, I
don't know how to ride and it'll be October before I take the class.
He's ridiculously happy.

The job search is still going. I took the test to be a TSA screener
at CVG and passed--oddly it was harder then the one to get me
certified as an English teacher even though the first half was just
reading comp, vocab and grammar. We'll see how that goes. I can work
for peanuts if my house gets rented out (though the TSA pays well)
which may happen this week. I'm not really sure how I feel about
being a landlord, but if the house is rented out, I can work for
peanuts until I find something better.

So that's us, Hope the A/C is working well wherever you are!

Italy!

2007-07-26T09:53:00.001-04:00

At this point we left Germany for Italy and our spiteful little GPS unit sent us over the Italian Alps, known as the Dolomites. This was not fun. David was sick. The roads were extremely narrow, twisty, steep and noticably without guardrails. I prayed a lot. That little side trip added a extra several hours to our journey. Ick.

Add to that that the hotel was not in Padua, but somewhere closer to Vicenza and the GPS refused to acknowledge that we were in Italy, that there were three roads all named the same thing (though it was actually not on any of them) and the police didn't know where it was and David's nose was a constant stream of snot and his throat a cacophony of coughing, it was not a fun time in the trip. Finally a guy on a motorcycle (incidentally a transplanted African who spoke French, German and Swahili and Italian but not English--I was embarrased by my Spanish and smattering of Swahili. The sicko in the seat beside me was more helpful with his German) took us to a corner we'd been past four or five times and pointed us down a street we'd been down several times and told us to drive until we were tired (um...) and we'd see it in the next town. Which we did. Lo an behold, far, far from where the directions said it was, it appeared, gleaming in the night. And my poor sweet honey finally got to go to bed at 5am.

Even though he was still sick the next day, we went into Venice for the day and made the best unplanned stop of the trip: a formal villa & gardens open to the public. It was gorgeous-- the sort of thing you see in a movie. Wide white gravel boulevards, formal fountains, bordered buy sculpture, a hedge maze, and wild, overgrown areas with gazebos and grottos and sculpture in abundance.

Look for three ruined sculptures in the pic above.

After Dachau we went to ...

2007-07-26T09:10:00.000-04:00

Neuschwanstein! Which was truly gorgeous. Mad King Ludwig began building it but it was never completed. He was found floating in a nearby lake with the doctor who had signed the insanity papers a few days after they were drawn up. Hence, doors lead to nowhere and there's an entire floor that's not finished. Being incomplete does not lessen its opulance at all. It's one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever been in, but i couldn't help thinking about the wasted money--he built this castle for his own use while the people starved. Hmm. The tour was super fast. They really keep ya moving. This was a problem for people like me and my husband who like to slowly absorb and ponder.

The poor tired horsies dragged our sorry butts up the hill. We wouldn't have made our tour without them. We planned to walk down but it was getting dark and some Spanish tourists crammed us in their car with them. At the bottom of the mountain I finally got my wish to eat niffles in Germany. They tasted just like Gram's and Mom's so that question is settled.

My husband with his new Neuschwanstein stein. Happy husband. He drinks beer out of it often though it is now just the Neuschwanstein stein.

David saw this pic once we got home and asked in horrified tones if those were bullet holes in the bear. No, no, no. Not embroidered bullet holes. Embroidered edeilweiss.

2007-07-24T15:59:00.000-04:00

This is our dog:

He looks like a:

His name is Grayson because he is:

Or more like a nice:

But I like to call him Steeeenky because he makes lots of:

He walked over to the:

and:

His brain is:

and he needs a:

So we bought a:

and dug a:

in the back yard. It's a doggie septic tank!
And not:

at all.
Yay!

ACK!

2007-07-24T15:13:00.000-04:00

I'm learning about black beans. Driving me a little nuts. my husband likes to repackage things. Hence, when the instructions in the reciepe say "prepare beans according to package directions" there are no blankity blankity directions to follow.

So I ask the internet.

Dear internet: How do I prepare black beans? Thanks, Meg

The internet gave me many instructions. Instructions for soups and side dishes, for face masks and body scrubs (speaking of which, I found an awesome sea salt/citrus/oil body scrub receipe that did great things for my skin). But not to just cook the beans.

So here I am, 24 hours later, finally with a finished bean product.
They're kinda good.
But we're having pock chops for dinner.
Cumin still smells great though....

Dachau

2007-07-20T13:36:00.000-04:00

This is a pic of the new people oven used for cremating dead bodies. Yes, that's still people ash in there. Off to both sides are rooms, about the size of a Lansing Parks & Rec. bathroom, that had bodies stacked to the ceiling because of the number of deaths and a shortage of coal near the end of the war. The allied soliders brought int the townspeople and made them carry out the corpses and bury them. That's one of the stunning things about the camp. It's not as though it's really out on its own or unnoticeable. It's a field away from town on one side and closer on the others, and was at the time of WWII. A trade road leads right past the open gravel square where prisoners were forced to stand exposed to the elements for hours. it's not as though the people of town could plead ignorance.
This is the old people oven (as opposed to the new, not the young). It interested me that Dachau was not an official death camp--it was a concentration and internment camp. Still, conditions were so bad, torture and experimentation so prolific and the commandants deemed sucessful by the turn over of theri prisoners (by shipment to Auschwitz, death by exposure, etc.) that it seems that was only a difference in terminology.

Dachau

2007-07-20T13:11:00.000-04:00

Another effectiv euse of art. The jewish demon-spirit rising out of a synagoge with the house of worship given a demonic aspect too. Scary propaganda. Sadly, it also was effective.

This is the shower or cleaning room. the picuture is perfectly placed so that the images of the people appaer just where thy would have stood if you were standing in the photographer's place when it was taken. Eerie. And effective.

Looking out from the main office into the camp. The sculpture was placed later. It is quite tortured and chaotic. you can see the last standing baracks on either side of the tree-lined corridor and if you look very carefully, you can see the memrial to those who perished far in the bqackground. ther eare several memorials on the site. They aren't nearly as moving as the camp itself.

Um...this is in the wrong place. It's a church in a town in southern Germany that we went to just to get off the beaten path. they ahd a memorial listing all the people from the town that had disappeared, resisted or died durign the war. Just a little town, couldn't have been more than 500 people, but so many names!

This was in the memorial room at the end of the exibits. I simply thought it was an insightful piece of art.

I've always loved political cartoons. This one was in the first room of the Dachau administration building. The exhibits began well before Hitler was elected and ended a few months after the fall of the Third Reich. Notice the feather pen in the angelic being's hand. The Devil was the Nazi regime, stifling and sucking the blood/liberty out of Germany's press. Interesting that this cartoon showed up in the early 30's.

2007-07-19T10:13:00.000-04:00

This picture was taken in Munich specifically so I could send it to my dad for Father's Day with a copy of the movie Big Fish. WE only had a few hours in Munich and did not get to the original Hofbrau House, but we did happen upon a church that had a choir inside the locked doors and a courtyard filled with huge, rough-hewn medieval blocks. We sat in the dark and listened to the voices soar through the streets as the choir practiced for Easter.

On the list of Great Stuff, we went to two Ostern Markets. Easter markets are filled with rabbits and eggs of all sorts. Our question when buying was, "Will the kids fight over this someday?" When we found this lady with her gorgeous painted eggs, there was no question. We bought one with the main square cathedral painted on it.

She had many designs...

...including a reproduction of The Last Supper (which was too rich for our blood)

Oh, the main square catherdral which is on our egg and the market is in front of.

Here is a pic of the mechanical clock at the catherdral-- seven little kings click by a big king paying a noisy, cool and somewhat strange homage to him, the king of kings (but not Jesus--just the head king of the kings at the time of the clock's construction).

And here is a gold thing that is important and decorative (dontcha love my knowledge base?) and a freshly wed couple hugging some street musicians that led them around and danced with them in the square. Bride's in the peach dress.

2007-07-19T09:25:00.000-04:00

This was just too quirky not to photograph. Across from the church picutred below was a German hip-hop store complete with FUBU jeans, EKCO wear and a hefty supply of this brand of very honestly named spray paint.

Snails were the feet of the relic box at the center of the church. No real idea why they chose snails. The guy at the door gave us a long explanation in german that neither of us even vaguely understood.

A pic of a photograph of the street with the church and hip hip shop during a Nazi rally. Southern Germans seem more in touch with holocaust history. There are many small displays and markers that clearly explain events many would rather forget but must be remembered or they may repeat.

The church the pictures below & above are from. St-something-or-other. It was David's first European cathedral and his jaw hit the floor. We racheted it up by degrees as we traveled so his jaw got to keep dropping. Love that.

Crazy discus-throwing cat-man sculpture by the Heidelberg bridge. There are small shiny brass mice and a plaque by them. No idea what it's all about but they caught my imagination. It also intrigued me that the cat man was empty-faced (I could fit my head into his head--I have pictures) but rather anatomically correct. No baby catmen. No, no, no.

Mmmm... Art that belongs with the cathedral above.

Plague art that goes with the cathedral above.

Heidelberg Castle as seen from the world heritage bridge that goes with Catman (ba-da-dad-de-dadada-it's the cat man!)

Me on World Heritage Bridge over the Rhine. Those bricks behind me have international protection. Do we have our priorities out of whack that the children in Sudan do not have the same protection?

Gate of World Heritage Bridge. I liked it. Kinda Dr. Suessy.

Germany/Italy over Spring Break

2007-07-19T08:48:00.000-04:00

The courtyard of the mostly burned down Heidelberg Castle. Women are trouble. The king fell in love with his English queen and wanted to make her happy in cold, damp, culturally backward Bavaria. Heidelberg had been unpenetrable for centuries, but it was a brief time of peace and he decided it was not all that important to keep its walls unbreachable. He built a corridor and Shakespearian-style theatre in and over the moat. She was happy, he was happy, they had twelve children and the castle fell to invaders. Several years later, lightening struck the wood shingled and framed theatre and quickly spread to the support beams in the rest of the castle, burning most of it to the ground. Walls stand with windows, but no rooms (Right side of the picture). It's easy to see where things were, but only one section has ben rebuilt. The main building with chapel and banquet hall are avaiable for weddings etc. (left side of the pic).

3-D art ala the 15th century. A painted body of a stag with a real, stuffed, somewhat mangy, head.

i don't find this pic of me attractive, but I love that we're laughing and the Rhine is in the background.

Fancy thing in the castle.

We thought we'd found the big cask of wine.

Then we found it.

My husband (then fiance) as Igor at the ruins of Frankenstien Castle.

Us up on the non-ruined part of the ruins of Frankenstein Castle.

Ceiling fans

2007-07-17T11:24:00.000-04:00

It's a slow day. I need to work on the house, but I'm having more fun sitting and thinking and staring at the ceiling fan.
April and Chuck were married Sunday. It was a lovely wedding, as has been every wedding we've attended together. But now we don't have any weddings until next spring (three then--I had thought Joey & Holly would be the next one, but I forgot about Tom & Liesel and Paula & Chris, both planning on April dates). Weddings have been such a part of our relationship I'm just not sure what we'll do without one on the calendar. So whose have we been to in the course of our relationship?

Clark & Kristen (December, Lansing-- David couldn't attend because P&G was moving him down that weekend)
Rudi & Tori (April, California)
Katie & Steve (May, Lansing)
Elan & David (September, Grand Rapids)
Tim & Chris (September, Bay City)
Jenny & Pete (September, Lansing--David couldn't come, Friday work wouldn't allow it)
Amy & Greg (October, Detroit area)
Emily & John (October, Lansing)
I'd swear we went to one last summer, but I'm blanking.

Then we got bored and planned one of our own and now it's April & Chuck. Aw.

What else can I post about?

Oh!
I have an idea, but maybe tomorrow.

Wedding photos are up on www.pictage.com. Our wedding date was 06.02.07, it's easier to search for it under my old last name than the new. A warning: there are 599 photos. It's a tad overdone but gorgeous (and we have three grandparents left. They're likely to kick off soon, so we photographed them like mad). I'm sure we'll be glad to have them, but I'm not at all sure anyone but us will ever make it all the way through them.

Ceremony starts on 7
Reception on 10

Here's a mess of pics from the last however long:

Yes, Christ is often the answer, but on the side of a plastics company, what exactly was the question? Personally, I'm hoping they manufacture those little plastic Jesuses that stick to your dashboard. That seems unlikely though.

I got to wear a pretty, pretty dress!

The view from Primavista after the rehearsal dinner:)

Fun with Meg & Dave

2007-07-13T08:56:00.000-04:00

Look Dave!
Look Meg!
Look Dave, look!

What?
What is this?
It is a bag.
The bag is empty.

Uh-oh.
The bag is empty.
Uh-oh.

What was in the bag?
In the bag was chocolate.
Chocolate in the bag? Chocolate?

Where did it go?
Where is chocolate?
The dog ate chocolate.
The chocolate is in the dog.

In the dog!?!
The chocolate is in the dog?
Yes, yes! The chocolate is in the dog!

How much?
How much chocolate?
How much chocolate is in the dog?

Four!
Four pounds.
Four pounds of chocolate!

What!?!
What did you say?
Four pounds of chocolate is in the dog!
Four pounds!

What should we do?

We should ask.

Ask Katie! Ask!

Katie is sleeping.
We cannot wake her now.
No wakey.
No.

I know!
Let us ask the Internet!
Ask Internet, ask!

The internet.
The internet says.
The internet says the dog should barf.

Barf dog, barf!

He will not barf.
What should we do?

A) Syrup of ipecac.
B) One teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide every ten minutes three times until barfing happens.
C) 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt on the back of the tongue.

Yes, Yes!
We have salt!
Salt could be ok!

Hold the dog's head.
Oh, he hates this.
He hates the salt.
This is not what dogs like best.

Now barf dog! Barf!

Dog is barfing.
He hates this.
This is not what dogs like best.

Oh! We feel bad.
We feel bad for making the dog barf.

Here dog, take a dog cracker treat.
Take a treat dog.
Take a treat.

Oh! He likes this!
He likes treats.
Come get treats dog.
This is what dogs like best.

Here dog, get pats.
Get pats dog.

Oh! He likes this!
He likes patting.
Come get pats dog.
This is what dogs like best.

Dog is ok.
We are ok.
Dog feels good.
We feel good.
Dog is happy.
We are happy.

Good Night!

2007-07-11T11:26:00.000-04:00

Husband had to be at work by seven today. this meant a 5:45 get up. But we overslept and didn't get up until 6:17. Opps. And just how was it that I regularly got up at 5 for 9 months at a time?

The bed is given away--yay Freecycle.org. Check it out. I've been a member for a while but forgot about it.

Now I'm bored. Guess I'd better go call and see if I can wrangle a job interview to manage the office of a funeral home.

2007-07-09T09:31:00.000-04:00

I....am....wiped....out....

We moved most of me this weekend. I still have a free queen size bed up for grabs. I'm going to hate turning it over to a landfill next weekend-- it's only 1.5 years old, very comfortable and was used by a single woman.

Move went mostly well.

Snapshot:

David and Meg have sucessfully unloaded the credenza, freezer, couch, twin bed and other assorted crap while still remaining married. As we look in on out heros, we see them struggling to get her 6'3" dresser up their tiny stairway:

David: LIft!
Meg:I AM LIFTING!
D: Lift (grunt) More!
M: (thorough gritted teeth) Quit... taking... the steps... two at a time, (in a low pained grumble, crescendoing on the word "fingers")you aRE SQUISHING MY FINGERS!
D: Sorry. (sounding insincere) I'm tall.
M: I'm tall -ish (Indistinct grunt) and I need my fingers.
(Dog pushes by)
Together: GRAYSON!
D:This is... not... a good time... dog.
M: Not... a... good... time.
D: Where are the drawers for this?
M: PUSH! (Eurgh.) Ummmm, don't know.
D: Lansing? (Umph.)
M: If so,(Huhueheha) I don't need them.

You need to understand, the stairway is a good 30 inches wide with a 26 in door. It goes up 13 feet in approximately 10ft. Stairs are 7 inches wide. Go measure your doors. Go measure your stairs. Pray for us.

Now I need to go put on gross clothes and finish unloading the truck.

2007-07-06T12:13:00.000-04:00

I've got a queen mattress, box spring and frame in Lansing to give away but it needs to be picked up this or next weekend. Drop me a line if interested or you have ideas where I could give it away!

More than a Month of Married Woman

2007-07-05T09:29:00.000-04:00

It’s a month after the wedding.

My inlaws left July 3 at 7am; a month to the day since I’ve been waking up as Mrs. Brown and 37 days after they arrived.

Interestingly, they lived with my FIL’s parents for six weeks after they got married (He proposed on the phone on a Tuesday, they got married on a Wednesday, they drove back to Michigan and moved in on Saturday). Nobody was really expecting this was going to become a family tradition.

So here I am. The house is still a constuction zone but the truck is rented for my move. We’ll be at the house Saturday pm and after church Sunday if folks are available. Sigh. I hate to ask.

The 4th was awesome here—an amazing parade, fabulous fireworks, lots of good people and a rockin’ mid-day storm to watch from the porch.

Also, it’s so strange to me that my wedding day—the start of something so wonderous, new and beautiful will always be tied up with Kim & Steve’s loss of Jorai, the loss of something so wonderous, new and beautiful. The end of my time in Michigan, the leaving of my life’s work, my friends, my church, my house to become half of “we”. It’s bittersweet, but lovely. I suppose this life is like that—joy and pain mingling, new beginnings, timely and untimely endings.

I lived the first half of this year at light speed and I’m glad it’s past but I wish there had been more time to reflect. I have that time now. It’s strange to be changed and drifting but I’m not a women who loses her bearings so easily. At 31 I know who I am and who I am not. And a change of name isn’t really that much of a change. I know there’s a shift at my core as I lose a degree of my independence but I like the shift that lets me lean on my husband. And God’s at the center of it all. Blows my mind.

Past that, here are pics. I love being married, I love Cincinnati, I need a job. I need to take more pics. The reflective part of me is thinking back to the wedding day. When else will I have so many of the loved people in my life in one place? Why couldn’t I find more time for each one? Ah, well.

The office space outside our bedroom AFTER being cleaned up.

David's dad tells a scary story to Emily & Dave.

David & Em goofing off in the spare room. That's a broom over her shoulders. The mess drove her to sweeping regularly.

Husband wires the garbage disposal:) Isn't he messy, clever & cute? Go clever husband! Wire the house! Wire the house!

I made him a red velvet armadillo cake for the family dinner Thursday before the wedding. It would be tactless for you to notice that it looks more like a rodent than an armadillo.

Wedding pics will post someday!

2007-06-30T08:33:00.000-04:00

Last day of construction today with his parents here. I'll be finishing up things for a few weeks I think.

No move this weekend. Apparently the "come what may" was bigger than I thought.

And yes, I realized my last post was posted on a Wednesday that I thought wass a Tuesday.

2007-06-27T10:03:00.001-04:00

And here it is Tuesday again. Friday I was talking to David and he suggested somethign that woudl involvoe staying up very late. I noed that the woudl be unwise since he had to go to work in the morning. He looked at me quizzically as though perhps I knew somethign about his schedule that he did not and then said simply, "Tomorrow's Saturday." I just have no sense of time at the moment. I just know I do a lot of housework now.

At least it's the good kind of housework-- I have applied paintable wallpaper to the dining room and then painted it an alarming shade of apricot, stained a bookcase, painted the inside of my trunk a pleasant apple green (Ok, so this was an accident and involved $8 worth of hosing down at the local car wash), primed the lovely little bathroom, helped wire the front porch for outlets, helped install a garbage disposal, gone to the hardware store or lumber yard at least once a day and today I shal paint the lovely little bathroom a color known as blue silk (it is a very, very, very pale blue-greyish color). Regardless of whatever else goes on, I still plan to move this weekend, come what may. It' driving me nuts to be without a bunch of the important stuff I figured I'd pick up a week later now that it's been three.

On other fronts, I've had a delightful time with my mother-in-law. She's got all sorts of stories about my husband that I'm not sure even he knew:) It's been a little intense to have five adults, two dogs and a cat in our little house, but I'm an extrovert so it's not a big a deal as it could have been had my introvert husband been home all the time. We had a date night last night (saw 28 Weeks. Ooooo... that's my type of zombie movie. And I think it was a case of the sequel being better than the orginal--many ethical questions to ponder).

Still Sunday was the day of the week that rocked. We visited Crossroads Community Church since we hadn't realized our church switched to a 10am for the summer and needed something later. The worship was a little bit, um, staged and repetative and the pastor was trying a little to hard at first to be cool (I think I take it for granted that pastors won't try to be cool since Riverview pastors seem so comfortable in their own skins and are dorky or cool as themselves), but the message was awesome. It was about desert places.

The image that stuck with me and made me think was that of coming out of the desert place-- most of the time it's not suddenly reaching a movie-style oasis, but hitting the scrub grass, then thicker grasses, scraggly shrubs, eventually seeing a little tree. And sometimes it's not that you can move into that grass, but that over a long, long, time it grows up around you and it's not because you've moved, but God's honored your helpless waiting. Doesn't apply to me at the moment, but to a few that I love. Isn't it strange and amazing that God hears?

That afternoon Larry and Maureen went off to the Taft while David and I took Emily to look at motorcycles, go bowling and eat Arby's down in Fountain Square (the fries were still frozen!). I could look at that fountain all day. Good times.

2007-06-22T22:57:00.000-04:00

Bathroom still in progress. No move until next week's Sunday.

Sigh.

I need more pants from Lansing.

Life in Cincinnati

2007-06-18T08:22:00.001-04:00

It's been a fair few weeks since I've written. The aftermath of the wedding is still around me. The thank you notes are written (though we have two mystery gifts we can't thank anybody for since they didn't come with names or cards-- a large glass jar from Pottery Barn and a set of fancy switchplate covers from Target--anybody on here know what's what?). We've also had two of our couple friends lose babies (my mother-in-law is starting to think I'm nuts since I cry everytime I read Kim's website), one healthy preemie birth (Elizabeth & Jay --our wedding officiant and her husband--had their baby girl, Emma Jordan, on the 10th 5.5 weeks early but both mother and baby are doing well) and Paula called Saturday to let me know she and Chris are now engaged and planning an April wedding.

The chaos in the house is starting to get to David (& me too to be honest). the dining room is being painted (by me), the gifts are mostly still there since the upstairs is completely taken over by the construction of the new bathroom his father is putting in for us (this means we have no bedroom, not even walls--a mattress on the floor and our suitcases is it in terms of living accessories), five adults and two dogs in our little house is a little overcrowded some days. Still it's wonderful to have so much time with famiy and I'm enjoying getting to know everyone better.
We're using the porch a lot.

No job on the horizon. Planning to drive up Saturday and pack, get the truck Sunday and load it up, drive ti back Monday or Tuesday. If anyone is available, we're going to need help at the house after church Sunday to get the big stuff in. hate to ask it, but thanks if you can.

Life is filled with a million little stories this week, but I'm still short on time-- I'd really thought the pace would slow after school let out and I was out of the classroom--not so yet. but I'd better start painting if it's going to happen today. It'll be a hot one!

A Married Woman

2007-06-06T17:24:00.000-04:00

I am you know.

In fact, a bunch of you saw it. And I hope I stood up straighter than in most of Yi's pics. Though I'm betting not. I was pretty tired by hour two of pictures.

So I'm desperately missing him this week. Just a couple more days and I can go be with him.

OH! We're doing a cake and punch thing at Veteran's Memorial Park in Holt on Sunday from 2-4pm. It's a student request, so I'm not thinking it'll be well attended and we should have some time to sit around and chit chat. The original announcemtn looks like this:

Cake & Punch
with
The Browns
~
A one night only performance!
~
Setting
Veteran’s Memorial Park
Holt, Michigan
Sunday, June 10, 2007
~
2pm-4pm

Starring
David Brown as Mr. Brown
&
Megan _________ as Mrs. Brown

Come celebrate Ms. K___________’s marriage and move with cake, punch, pictures & other fun!

And then it had pics of our wedding cake topper:

Of course, right in the middle of the vows, they took a dive off the cake and shattered. I refuse to see that as a sign.

The unity candle didn't get unwrapped either, so we had to slide the plasitc to the side then burn through the super long, beaded wick (I pulled at it before it turned into a fire bomb and tossed it into the leftover communion wine).

So I have returned from the weekend changed. I have changed my name and my perspective. Cincinnnati is now home and his house has become our house in Ohio. My house is our house in Michigan.

I’ve never had an idea of my dream wedding, but I got it. Thank you so much for being there—I cannot think of another time in life when so many of the people I love will be in the same place. I only regret I couldn’t experience it with three clones to feed more memories into my mind.

I need to grade exams, but hey, I managed to post!

Four days...

2007-05-29T13:05:00.000-04:00

Ya know that show 24 Hours? I feel kinda like I'm living it right now--I hear the little electronic beep ticking anf it's counting down to the wedidng, which is not in itself stressful--he's the right guy--but the details are getting to me and preparing my classroom to go be wed is crazy and I'm afraid our upstairs has no walls anymore but that's a good thing because then there will be two bedrooms and a 3/4 bath by the time I move down there. And then my mind split screens to what David is doign nd what I shoudl be doing and will I ever manage to call the cable company!?!

So perhaps I am stressed, but I don't feel crazy, just overwhlemed. Looking forward to seeing allyo u crazy peopel Saturday!
Love
Me

About Two Weeks

2007-05-18T15:33:00.000-04:00

I'm just barely single still. I miss him.

Ok, that's said.

I've had so many fabulaous ideas for blogging, but let's face it, when your home computer is blown, your blogging life is shot. And my cell phone (ailing for many a month) seems to also be doing exicting things like emptying my mailbox for me without ever telling me I had messages. This is especailly fun as I try to communicate with vendors and RSVPers. Wonder how long it's been going on.

On the plus side, I'm really excited about the food at the wedding. We are doign buffet, but there are only about 140 people coming so it shouldn't take too long-- David's favorite part is the mashed potato bar, I'm thrilled for either the chicken satay, scallops & shrimp linguine or eclairs (which are like nothing I've ever tasted).

I'm still crying every time I work on the ceremony--the vows get me every time. I don't know if this is a good thing or bad.

Tomorrow is Prom--David's First-- should I get him flowers? Teh-he! He's so non-plussed.

And Lett's shipped Elissa's dress and um, it's not there. Pray hard.

2007-05-11T11:48:00.000-04:00

It's been nearly a month. Wow. I'm lazy about this. But in my defense, the motherboard on my laptop went kaplooey, so it's been a little hard to find time to type.

We closed out Midsummers and actually got our Drama account back in the black. Much thnakfulness for this. But I'm glad to have my evenings back.

My house is still for sale. Lots of walk throughs, but not much serious interest. I think we priced it too high and will be dropping it soon. Still, it annoys me how many little things I need to do there just to keep it sale ready (heck, there's still some things I need to do to get it saleable!)

in other more fun events, I got to see so many of the wonderful women who have influenced my life two weeks ago at a shower-- a chocolate and lingerie shower. I loved just SEEING people. It's strange, I feel so disconnected from friends these days, but I'm always so glad to see them. Thank you ladies.

On other notes, we're going to get the marriage license in a few hours. At first we thought there was afive-day waiting period. There's not:)

So-- Interesting Juxtapositions I've been thinking about:

If I eat the chocolate, will I be willing to be seen inthe lingerie?

If there was a five-day waiting period for a marriage license, it would be more than the waiting period to buy a handgun.

And with that
:)

2007-04-14T21:37:00.000-04:00

Hi. I've been MIA for a while.

Item 1: We had Hell Week for Midsummers last week and, as usual, we're a bit behind. I spent the week sewing hula hoops into...well, think very large tube socks. I'll post a pic at some point.

Item 2: Planning a wedding is getting old. Invites are almost all out and now there's round two for the ones that we misaddressed and came back to David.

Item 3: The house has been walked through by potential buyers twice. The stress of keeping it this neat is killing me. I just want to leave my makeup on the counter! Perhaps this is good practice for marriage. Or perhaps it's ruining me. I'm already the tidy half of the couple.

Item 4: Went to Germany and Italy to visit the bro and the Liesel. Loved it. Didn't get to see Brandi. Sigh. Thanks to Jenny and Pete for letting in the cat. Anger to relator who apparently let her back out before I got home. The other half of this is that it now feels absolutely wrong to be so far away from David. Seven weeks and counting.

Item 5: Happy Birthday Jenny! And Catherine! And Jeff! And Mom! And Barb!

Item 6: I am so sick. I so much want to be at Riverview tomorrow. Will you sit by me even if light and sound make my head want to explode?

Item 7: There's a poster up at the school that shows girls partying and a don't drink message. Equal size to this message and still part of the same poster is an advertisement for Lady Schick razors. What message do the students take away from this poster? The vast majority say, "don't get drunk and shave your legs". Hmm.

Item 8: Good Night!

And She's Back!

2007-03-04T20:45:00.000-05:00

I have to say-- not a good idea to let your hotmail accoutn lapse at the same time you've avoided resetting your blogger account. Makes for a long dry spell before each problem is fixed and balance is restored to the universe.

So here's me:

The house goes on the market in about two weeks. Next weekend I pack up anything that doesn't qualify as "furnishings" (the house is supposed to sell better with "furnishings" still in it). This means all costumes, decorating crap, books, candles, miscellanious junk from miscellaneous drawers, out of season clothes (um, what do I put in that catagory right now? I'm puzzled), seasonal stuff and other such must go to Cincinnati. Sigh. Big week.
Add to that that Grayson cracked my front picture window this weekend AND chewed up the custom blinds. Very expensive dog. Perhaps I will make a dog skin rug.

The wedding planning is going well, but vendors seem suprised that I mostly just don't care about the five possible blues for accent flowers in bouquets. Give me one that's cheap and close. Done. Major goal of the day is to be married to Daivd at the end of it. Everything else is a bonus.
Is it OK if I desperately steal ideas from weddings I've attended? I just have classy friends.

The job search is on. Turns out I am marketable, it's just a matter of finding the job. It's killing me to find time to follow up on leads and edit the resume for each one. I just don't know. Stressful.

Steel Magnolias is over and Midsummer's is about to start tech. I think it'll be exceptionally cool--we're putting it in the 1960s!

That's the short summary-- more later! Take care--I love reading your blogs even when I can't post!

2007-01-30T13:19:00.000-05:00

This is VERY Long Engagement Post

2007-01-30T13:05:00.000-05:00

This story is a little twisted and out of order, but it really went quite well (perfectly, in fact).

Sometime over the past several months he figured out he wanted to marry me (I was ahead of the game. I’d known for a while. And known I wanted to marry him. Tee-hee!). This led to ring shopping and all sorts of fun joking around and discussing what we might do where and when.

He kinda wanted to get married at the lake he spent a lot of time at as a child in upstate New York, but that was rather inconvenient and lacking plumbing. I kinda figured Lansing simply because that’s what would be expected. Then we realized Cincinnati is way cooler than Lansing and Delta Airlines’ hub. Just for fun, I looked around on the knot and found The Bell Event Centre at the Verdin Bell and Clock Museum. Wow. Everything we wanted.

But by this point we were talking about setting a date and all they had were Fridays in August and September. Teachers don’t do non-school things in September and late August seemed like we’d be running it a bit close with the startup activities too. We’d picked out the ring and it was on its way, it was only a matter of time….. Hence, when an opening June 2 came up, we jumped at it, engaged or not. By 9am we had it booked, by 10:30 we were calling our parents. At one point, I asked if we were formally engaged. He looked at me and pointed out we had set a date, rented a room and were busy letting everyone know—-You don’t get much more engaged than that. So that was that.

Then we walked down to the local video store to return a video and he had me walk one block further. There was a massive billboard advertising a bridal show for the next day and he said he thought we should go. Turns out I love planning a wedding with him. He has opinions on everything, but is so much help that it’s not a problem. We really are planning it together. Which is good. There’s only four months.

So in about 24 hours, I went from being quite single to committed to marry with ceremony & reception site chosen, officiant, attendants, possible flowers, mostly decided on guy’s attire, invitations chosen, a guest list, an appointment with a photographer, bridesmaids’ dresses chosen except for the color and I had my dress picked by Thursday. But really that’s not the end of the story. He knows me and knows my needs. My fabulous boyfriend (opps! Fiancé) who doesn’t really plan things hatched a doozey.

First off, he didn’t have a car for the last two weeks (an axel broke), so I believed him when he told me he couldn’t drop off the ring in time to get it back by last weekend. When I got down there this weekend we were busy with picking a photographer and other nonsense (we’d had our heads filled with nonsense all week), so it didn’t surprise me when we were out at Jungle Jim’s (a really cool grocery store) and he suddenly remembered he needed something from work (which happens to be on that side of town). So I said sure, I’d grab what we needed and sit in the store’s Maggie Moo’s and wait for him.

Later that night, in a fancy outfit as I had been instructed, he took me out to Primavista for fantastic Northern Italian food. It’s at the top of a hill and overlooks the city. We were seated right at 5:30—he’d planned it so that we could just see the sun go down and the city lights come up. Dinner was delicious, but dessert was the best. Our very chatty, very accommodating, server just handed me the menu and ran off.

Pasted over the menu was another menu-- our history in words and in pictures. Appetizers were the time when we were just figuring each other out, side dishes as little things we’d done together dating. The main course as what he’s hoping we’ll be in marriage and dessert was his actual proposal. I barely had a moment to look at this before he was getting down on one knee, pulling a box out of his pants pocket (you’ve probably already guessed he ditched me at the store to collect the ring) and saying , “Let’s get hitched.” Without missing a beat, I smilingly replied, “Try again.” At which point he laughed and said, “Will you marry me?” and I said yes.

And then things get all crazy in my head. We took dessert to go and went down to the music hall to listen to the symphony (a Mozart Mass and German love songs) and then out for coffee and to see Night of the Living De3D at the local independent movie theatre. Ah! What a night. I’m a very happy girl.

I've Never Had One of Those Before

2007-01-26T12:38:00.000-05:00

So there's this guy.

This talldarkandhandsome guy.

With an offbeat sense of humor and a little bit-o-faith.

And he’s cuddly.

And he’s smart.

And he’s fun.

And his kisses make me all melty.

And he’s got a killer sense of style.

And he’s pretty much my best friend.

And sometimes we argue a little.
But neither of us likes that, so we make it right pretty quickly.

And he’s got all sorts of opinions, so I’m never mentally unchallenged or bored.
And he lives in this cool city.

And we love each other the way we are.
And we care enough to gently call each other out on our crap.

And when he says something he means it.
And when he screws up he’s honest about it.

And I can be weak with him.
And he can be weak with me.

And we laugh together often.
And we plan together for horrible things
And then they aren’t so scary.

And most of my best days are spent with him.

So when a guy like this,
this guy,
wants to set a wedding date,
what can this girl do?

June 2.
2007.
128 days.

And it can’t come soon enough.

So…um… huh. It looks like I’ve got myself a fiancée. I’ve never had one of those before. I’m liking it. I suppose I better get ready. Looks like a husband is on the way.

2007-01-17T00:02:00.000-05:00

2007-01-16T23:55:00.000-05:00

2007-01-16T23:43:00.000-05:00

2007-01-16T23:40:00.000-05:00

I just realized I've only worn skirts/dresses to school twice this year (though I have brought them to change into after school twice).

I was going to switch it up tomorrow and put one on, but I discovered I haven't bothered with nylons since Emily's wedding. Ain't got none.

Huh.

On the other hand, it's still more than Joey.

2007-01-06T22:23:00.000-05:00

2007-01-06T21:41:00.000-05:00

Mom really likes Paul Newman in the racing area.

David dunks on some basketball player guy. Anybody know who he is?

David annoyed Holyfield and got knocked out.

Dad putted a round with Jack and Tiger.

Turns our Tiger needed my help figuring out the best approach to a putt.

David didn't like it much when I took George Clooney's hand in the wedding chapel area (I wouldn't wear the yellow stinky wedding dresses--not even for a picture).

So we wandered over to the guy from the Voice of Victory and had him bless us.

We stepped up to jam with the Blue Men. They gave David the paddles. Must have heard I have no rhythm.

And Mom high-fived Sammy Davis Jr.

Crrrazzzy Eyes!

2007-01-06T00:19:00.000-05:00

Hmm.. apparently I put in the good family pic last night--this is the crazy eyes version:

Still don't see it? Try this one:

Ooooh, I have no shame.

Ah, Airports. The Great Equalizer.

2007-01-05T00:39:00.000-05:00

I have returned to my humble abode from the land of sunshine and fun. So much fun in fact, that I'll have to space it out so you aren't overwhlemed. Simply whelmed will do;)

As for the airport thingy.... thank you Kim and Steve and Amy and Greg and Deb who pretty much went through each exciting and frustrating change with me. I was supposed to leave from Lansing on Friday but left out of Detroit on Saturday, on the way home there were three delays, six flight changes and the realization that there are very few men in the world (or women for that matter) who are legally authorized to tell me to take off my clothes in public. And they can make the annoying guy behind me do the same thing. Not fun. Not fun at all at 4 am.

But I made it in time to see the ring as these two got engaged:

Wedding's in 2008.

I have no idea what I was doing with my eyes in this one. I think it must be that I had them completely closed in the others....

On Christmas Eve we left Tom and Liesel with her family and drove over to do the midnight service at the church we always visit when we're there (except the year my uncle and I messed up and attended a service in Moldovan) and did the grandpa thing in Vegas. We did a lot this trip (mostly free or deeply discounted). David had never been before so we popped in to see the fountain shows at Caeser's Palace

then wandered around the VERY VERY expensive shops. David found a silk shirt on sale for a mere $595. Um... nope. He didn't get that for Christmas.

Then we wandered over to the part of the Mirage where you can see the white tigers without paying (hey, I'm cheap)

And took advantage of the midway and free circus performances at Circus Circus. I managed to hit the jackpot on two different midway games so we took home a lovely pillow (that's my hair blowing directly out behind me--it was really that windy!)

We also managed to get 50% off tickets (visit tix4tonight.com, print the coupon, show up. Why haven't I done this before?) to the celebrity impersonater show Legends. Very cool. I've always wanted to see a fake Elvis in Las Vegas--and he was a good one. Sting was pretty impressive too.

We couldn't take pictures there, but afterwards we wandered across the street to the Bellagio to find the Chihuly in the lobby. Dale Chihuly is a large-scale glass artist (We were slightly less impressed with him when we discovered he had a team to help him execute his pieces). His show in Kalamazoo was one of our first dates.

Ok, if you're still with me, you might be excited for tomorrow's series entitled "Madame Tussaud's, Bodies And A Bit More Chihuly". It will eventually be followed by "Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, New Year's Eve On The Strip And No, I'm Still Not Engaged".

Still Melancholy I suppose

2006-12-19T17:51:00.000-05:00

The most beautiful place I have seen in my lifetime is a valley in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. I entered it along the western ridge in the golden hours of the afternoon. How can I describe it? The grass rolled down the valley’s sides in thick green-gold waves. The mountains above it melted into shades of pink and purple, gold and ochre. The sky was still topaz above me and I felt as though I had unannounced wandered into God’s resting place.

I set up my tent half way down and took the mile hike to the northern caves. The razor grass was not soft—it frayed my jeans, but I’ve never been in a sea of grass like that before or since. No trace of my passing behind me. No trace that anyone had ever passed before. I think I sang. I’m sure I prayed. It was the sort of walk where the beauty is heartbreaking and yearning in the soul goes unsatisfied because it’s not for earthly things.

As it will, the afternoon continued on. I met one of the people I was traveling with. He had a stove so we shared a meal before I climbed back up to my camp. It was good. Simple, rice and cheese, but good. There are so many….things like this I want to share. The stories seem to be worn out, but the memories are so clear sometimes. I’m like an Alzheimer’s patient who wakes up and remembers life for a moment. The orphanage, the university, Gardner, the chicken busses, the choir, the woman who wanted a knife, African Unity Square, Strachen’s, Mbare.

Mbare is when brings this up tonight. I walked here. There are no letters. There is no email. It has been eight years. There is a time to grieve and apparently it is not over.

2006-12-15T12:57:00.000-05:00

I sometimes wonder if the reason many of my male students have a hard time with personal narrative, vignettes and other creative writing is that those genres require a level of self exposure general essays and expository writing do not. What I’m talking about is guys being disconnected from their emotions. They can tell me the emotion they felt or the situation they were in, but it is much rarer for them to be able to articulate both and the connection between them.

I understand this better now that I’ve taught a few years and spent time developing emotional depth with David (who is not naturally a man who reflects on his emotional state). There’s this hang time (I’m dating a researcher and a scientist. Cat-like reflexes are not his thing. Deliberate decisions are.) and then he pops up with a triple score word that pinpoints it precisely. We’ve worked up to this.

I can only think of a couple of guys who regularly take their emotional temperature and respond accordingly to sadness, anger, overwhelming joy, grief, frustration, confusion, etc. Most of those are just taken for confusion. It surprises me when I ask the men in my life how they’re doing the varied responses I get. I rephrase and ask how they’re feeling….well, some come up with a health related answer, but the rest seem to enjoy it. I’m thinking mostly of my dad, brother and former neighbor in that second category. I’m not one to casually bring it up in ordinary conversation—I’m a little more aware of cultural norms than that. Just a little though.

I’m busily handing back vignette anthologies. Vignettes are short stories from life that are based on a relativly small slice of time, impact that reader's emotional in some way and are kind of a cross between a short story and a poem--mmuch imagery and figurative language. Some of the best writing I got was from guys. But they didn’t choose to share it aloud when the opportunity presented itself. Some of the worst was from guys. They told stories, but there was no compelling emotion written into them. They listed ideas but refused to try to move deeper. I was sad. I don’t know if they get what I was talking about or if they just couldn’t deliver or just wouldn’t deliver. It made me sad.

Mmm...Favors

2006-12-07T05:11:00.000-05:00

First off, I seem to have long-term misplaced (ok, formally lost at this point) my address book and never had some of your addys. I figure if you're readign the blog... well, you're probably beloved and on my desire-to-send-snail-mail list. I'm sure Emily Post would disapprove of this medium (then again, they didn't have blogs at the turn of last century, still..it seems unlikely she'd like the idea), but could you email your addresses for Christmas cards and the like?

Reverie

2006-12-06T22:34:00.000-05:00

Another weekend. And I got to spend it here. I don’t know the last time I had nearly a month of weekends here (well, not counting NCTE). David was here and we did Lansing things. Things I want him to share and know if I’m going to give them up. We had Fleetwood for breakfast (and he asked if they served Fleetwood Mac & Cheese. The waitress was nonplussed), then wandered out to Wooden Skate (my brother and I went to school with the Durow girls—Kim had a son two months ago for those who care!), hung out in the EL Barnes & Noble (one of the many things I like about him is that he too can waste hours in a bookstore), ate at Charlie Kang’s, and rented a chick flick (Failure to Launch) and really enjoyed being at a church together that wasn’t new. Fun to see some of my favorite people afterwards too. I love that! Fellowship! Yipee!

Past that, other thoughts include:

A) Winter cat is better than summer cat. Her fur fills out and she’s extra-lux. Makes me understand why trappers used to hunt in the winter. Also, she gets cold and extra cuddly. I like that in a cat.

B) It troubles me no end and makes me roll my eyes that one of my students used Harold and Kumar go to White Castle as evidence in a persuasive writing that love at first sight exists. Where do I even start with the logic flaws in that one?

C) One of my students is being an absolute …donkey about his white supremacist views. His reading material is in 36pt font and he’s doing that annoying teenage thing of snorting, muttering and generally drawing just enough attention to the fact that he’s reading the crap with out actually stepping over the line to the point where I can reasonably confiscate it and burn it without stifling his first amendment rights. I wish I didn’t care about those pesky rights things. But not really. Still, my blood boils. As MLK said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Pray for wisdom and clear sight as to how to love him and protect the kids around him.

D) Tis the season—didn’t even think about this as a holiday activity.

E) I love my old school red rubber hot water bottle. Warm feet all night. Perhaps I have a romanticized view of what it’s like to share a bed with a spouse, but in my mind, I imagine never groggily waking up cold in the night—more specifically, never having cold feet or needing that beloved hot water bottle again.

I love this phase of my life. I feel so richly blessed ( I am most of the time, but awarness of it and the feelings that go with it—mmm….so good). I sit in my warm little house and look out into the silent snowy night. The lights from my tree glow softly in the background. My tummy has been filled. This is a moment I feel the presence of God. How did I get so lucky? I don’t have excesses of money, I’m just rich. It’s not that I deserve it. It’s not that it’s an impressive place. My couch is old and scarred. My house is small but plenty huge for just me. Contentment is a blessing. A peaceful house too. A space of my own and people who love me to fill that space from time to time. My life is a good one.

Good night.

Chivalry Lives

2006-11-30T23:42:00.000-05:00

I've got the 72 pound lap dog this week. Mostly, it's fabulous, but the non-mostly is getting on my nerves.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

On the other hand, he's been valiantly defending me from the plumbing (he takes particular umbrage with the rinse cycle of the dishwasher). It's a little unnerving when he barks in the middle of the night at the shower depressurizing, but I admire his guardianship of my slippers and packing tape.

So far, since he's been here, he has eaten:
Two boxes of cereal off the top of the fridge
All the cat food and its container
Two bags of dog treats stored on the top shelf of my coat closet
Three packets of oatmeal
Half a roll of packing tape
Two sponges
A small bottle of shampoo
Three socks (clean)
The bow off my blue slipper (the left one)
A heck of a lot of dog food

I'm special. He doesn't do all this for David.
I still don't want to give him back tomorrow.

Wonderful Weekend or Accepting The Need For Change

2006-11-25T22:19:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful weekend. I needed these days. Sometimes I worry that I’m spending my life too freely—packing time with activity (some of it worthwhile, some of it necessary, some of it just spent), but not with things that enrich.

I like activity. In college a friend remarked I like to keep busy. But it’s not that I like to keep busy, I like to suck the marrow out of the bones of every day—drink in those soft hours of morning, think about world events, laugh at human folly, do something to enrich the lives around me, read the good book and let it improve my soul, create something, whether it be art, food, a room or a set, revel in those golden hours of the afternoon, settle myself in softly to an evening with one I love or many.

But the signs are there. It’s almost here. I’m burning out. This feels like that last sprint of a race—those moments when it would be so much easier to just stop than keep on. I forget things. Which day is Emily’s birthday? Where was I going to go before I buy paint? What day is LOST on? I’m usually tired. When I pray, it’s hard to focus.

This weekend offered a reprieve. I’ve gone to bed at nine. I’ve woken up without an alarm (with an embarrassing number of hours in between). I actually folded ALL my laundry. I opted out of major Thanksgivings and had a plate of Boston Market with Kate while letting the dogs run free. I napped whenever I felt like it. I went welding. I spent serious time in the Word. I raked leaves on a beautiful fall day. I bought the book 101 Career Alternatives for Teachers. (I missed David profusely) I put up a Christmas tree and decorated it. Amy and Greg took me out for Korean. I finally got over to finish the mug I started at Jenny’s bachelorette party. I thought about what I might buy people for Christmas. I researched what it would cost to meet my family in CA over Christmas (Tom will be home from Germany briefly!).

It’s been good.

I need to make changes. I know this. I’m tired of being tired and stressed and always working two days ahead of the day that I’m living. I don't want to be the whiney Meg. Like my weight, it's had to come to the right moment for me to realize how good I feel when there's less in my life. But it’s scary. Some of those changes will come naturally. Some will be a hard push. And all will require more thought, planning and energy than I feel like I have. I like change. Why is all this so daunting?

2006-11-25T16:46:00.000-05:00

So what services are people going to these days? I'm around this weekend and next--it would be nice to see people I know while in our house of worship!

Nearly Turkey Day

2006-11-21T22:00:00.000-05:00

I do exist. No question. Just prefer hiding in my bed sometimes to actual posting. I've been narrating very funny posts in my head, but none of them made it here and apparently I missed their expiration date.

Ok. So. Things that have been up:

42nd Street is over (Thank God!) and it went well.

David crashed his car, got a new one and is at Disney World with his nuclear family this weekend. Grayson is with me. I had no idea it would be so hard to have a huge dogggie with no fenced yard. Ike was easier. I still want a puppy of my own.

I went to NCTE this weekend! Talk about indulging my geekdom. English teachers talking English all day for four days. Ah...bliss!

It was in the Opryland. Look at the shiny:

And now I have a five day weekend. On the list: yard work, grading, welding at the Career Center, a plate of Boston Market and not getting out of my pjs until well afternoon on Thanksgiving. I'll definatly be giving thanks for that!

2006-11-07T06:59:00.000-05:00

Get out there and vote baby!

I never thought I'd be so excited to get back to tampon and erectile disfunction commercials.

Workin’ 5-9

2006-11-03T12:28:00.000-05:00

AM to PM baby! And that isn’t a typo.

It’s the week known as Hell Week in theatre parlance. And grades were due. And Emily’s wedding was Saturday. Of the three of those, guess which one I enjoyed?

Yep, my Emily is married to the dashing John. It’s strange---we’ve been through this dating thing together. She’s been closer to it any other friend and I’ve needed her. In a truly God moment, her new home is only and hour away from Cincinnati. Wow. I’m grateful.

Past that it has been a very bad, no-good, awful week. Tuesday was the worst of it—I woke up at 7:10 (um…I have students in the classroom at 7:30 and a 17 minute drive). Apparently I slept through three alarms—two by my bedside and one in the bathroom (now that Amy’s mostly gone, I’m extra paranoid). Then again, I was up from 3- 11 on Monday (grades due at noon Wednesday, I needed to grade a few last things and the grade program print function quit). Oddly, I made it in by 7:30 (though I was unshowered, uncostumed, uncandied and unmakeuped with MSU seniors observign my class). I think there must be a slight time difference between my home clocks and the school clocks. That or I have the ability to move through time like that guy on Heroes.

To add to that, David called at 10am to tell me he’d totaled his car but was ok (another God moment—I usually have my cell off and hidden until after school, but I happened to have it in my pocket and checked it at lunch). We’re going car shopping this weekend.

And that's my whiney update. I'm tired and irritable. I'll be better in ten days. Easily the bright spot of the week will be Yi's birthday dinner tonight--if we get done on stage in time for me to attend.

Happy Birthday sweet Yi.

Vocabulary Fun

2006-10-27T13:32:00.000-04:00

In my classes we work with a me-adapted program based off of Vocabulary for College Thinking. The first step of the week's five words is to guess a synonym for them from their context in a sentence. Sometimes this goes well, sometimes it's just amusing.

Here are some of my favorites from last week. Feel free to editorialize.

She allegedly took the ipod while her brother was gone.

smartly
intelligently

It is important to take meticulous notes because the information from each day will be tested.

sneaky
unnoticeable
Obsessively
Obsessive-compulsively

Many people were unnerved by the discovery of a woman’s finger in Wendy’s Chili.
Unhurt
Excited
Lured

An Update to End All Updates

2006-10-22T22:50:00.000-04:00

Well, not really, but I realized my last post was not the edited version and therefore not complete and edited. My computer seems to have eaten that post. But I do think it's dangerous both to vote without worrying about personal/spiritual implications and also to take them so far that this election is lost or won on abortion positions without looking at the candidates' positions on related matters. Look it up. There are some suprises.

We did the Late Night Tech thing this Friday-- I made it to bed at 2am! This was one of those weekends I packed too much in. On the way to the wedding, David and I stopped off at the family Iowa at U of M tailgate to have him meet a few more relatives and just because I really enjoy them. Kinda stressed out my aunts to have us there with Amy's wedding only a few hours away.

Anyway, my housemate is well married.
It was odd to actually be there--ten months of planning all done up in just a few short hours.

I miss her already, but then again, Greg will take good care of her.

Ala the DJ, doing the "You never close your eyes..." thing from Top Gun.

Returning the favor to Greg with Aretha Franklin's Respect.

Dancing. Elan & David were the most recently married pair (black and purple dancers). It was fun to see Karen and Hillary too!

Remember when? Yeah, Peter Awesome and the Jennster, his pie of sweetness, have been married almost a month!

The moment after I missed the moment of Peter looking at Jenny. It's not a great shot, but I love the idea of the Mom/Groom with backdrop of groomsmen.

It snowed. Icky.

I had a record number of boards in my car last week--18. I think you can only count 16 but the rest are there!

Malibus really aren't meant to be used like that.

Now it's one week to the end of the 2006 wedding season. Emily and John are the last ones. It will be good.

Meg Continues To Be Political

2006-10-20T12:48:00.000-04:00

After a brief hiatus in which I contracted either bronchittis and/or walking pneumonia (love those antibiootics and striods! REALLY love that good cold medicine with coedine in it--takes the edge of musical season right off. Don't worry, no power tools for me.), I'm back and firey (if still drugged out of my head).

Here are your proposals Michigan. I think you’d probably better read them over. I heard a proposal 5 commercial last night that was so one-sided it wasn’t even a little persuasive. The actual language is below. You’ll find I’ve made my comments below them, including spiritual complications this time.
The pretty version is here.
􀀀September 20, 2006
STATE OF MICHIGAN
STATEWIDE BALLOT PROPOSAL STATUS
NOVEMBER 7, 2006 GENERAL ELECTION
I. STATEWIDE PROPOSALS QUALIFIED TO APPEAR ON NOVEMBER 7, 2006 GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT
• HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION Z: Adopted by State House July 14, 2004; adopted by State Senate December 8, 2004; deposited with Secretary of State December 20, 2004.
BALLOT LANGUAGE: The following ballot language was approved by the Board of State Canvassers on August 25, 2006:

PROPOSAL 06-1 A PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO REQUIRE THAT MONEY HELD IN CONSERVATION AND RECREATION FUNDS CAN ONLY BE USED FOR THEIR INTENDED PURPOSES

The proposed constitutional amendment would:
• Create a Conservation and Recreation Legacy Fund within the Constitution and establish existing conservation and recreation accounts as components of the fund.
• Use current funding sources such as state park entrance and camping fees; snowmobile, ORV and boating registration fees; hunting and fishing license fees; taxes and other revenues to fund accounts.
• Establish the current Game and Fish Protection Fund and the Nongame Fish and Wildlife Fund within the Constitution.
• Provide that money held in Funds can only be used for specific purposes related to conservation and recreation and cannot be used for any purpose other than those intended.

Should this proposal be adopted? Yes 􀀀 No

Eh, why not? I am afraid of losing wetlands and parks to urban sprawl. But I haven't read much about this one. Perhaps it does things I don't know about. That could be bad.
• MICHIGAN CIVIL RIGHTS INITIATIVE PETITION: Signatures filed January 6, 2005; proposal ordered on ballot by Michigan Court of Appeals December 20, 2005.
BALLOT LANGUAGE: The following ballot language was approved by the Board of State Canvassers on January 20, 2006:

PROPOSAL 06-2 A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE STATE CONSTITUTION TO BAN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAMS THAT GIVE PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT TO GROUPS OR INDIVIDUALS BASED ON THEIR RACE, GENDER, COLOR, ETHNICITY OR NATIONAL ORIGIN FOR PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION OR CONTRACTING PURPOSES
The proposed constitutional amendment would:

• Ban public institutions from using affirmative action programs that give preferential treatment to groups or individuals based on their race, gender, color, ethnicity or national origin for public employment, education or contracting purposes. Public institutions affected by the proposal include state government, local governments, public colleges and universities, community colleges and school districts.
• Prohibit public institutions from discriminating against groups or individuals due to their gender, ethnicity, race, color or national origin. (A separate provision of the state constitution already prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin.)

Should this proposal be adopted? Yes 􀀀 No 􀀀

I'm not at all convinced the time for affirmative action is over. Statistically, by percentage, whites still go to college and complete college more than any other group in the US. U of M is not a great mesh of colors and cultures in the same way MSU is.

On the other hand, what's the chance my baby bro could have gotten in there if he hadn't been military? While it may not always feel like it, white priviledge still exists and I don't see it all equaling out anytime soon.

• DOVE HUNTING REFERENDUM: Referendum petition approved as to form August 11, 2004; signatures filed March 28, 2005; petition determined sufficient June 2, 2005.
BALLOT LANGUAGE: The following ballot language was approved by the Board of State Canvassers on August 25, 2006:

PROPOSAL 06-3 A REFERENDUM ON PUBLIC ACT 160 OF 2004 – AN ACT TO ALLOW THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A HUNTING SEASON FOR MOURNING DOVES

Public Act 160 of 2004 would:
• Authorize the Natural Resources Commission to establish a hunting season for mourning doves.
• Require a mourning dove hunter to have a small game license and a $2.00 mourning dove stamp.
• Stipulate that revenue from the stamp must be split evenly between the Game and Fish Protection Fund and the Fish and Wildlife Trust Fund.
• Require the Department of Natural Resources to address responsible mourning dove hunting; management practices for the propagation of mourning doves; and participation in mourning dove hunting by youth, the elderly and the disabled in the Department’s annual hunting guide.

Should this law be approved? Yes 􀀀 No

Still, I think I'll vote for it. With the way things arDove is yummy, but it seems like this would probably be a recreational hunt for most. Small birds are hard to clean and eat. e going in this state, I may need to go hunt doves for dinner some night. It makes me think of the rabbit scenes in Roger & Me. And Lord knows, the wildlife folks need the revenue after budget cuts.
• SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION E: Adopted by the State Senate December 13, 2005; adopted by the State House December 13, 2005; deposited with the Secretary of State December 15, 2005.
BALLOT LANGUAGE: The following ballot language was approved by the Board of State Canvassers on August 25, 2006.

PROPOSAL 06-4 A PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO PROHIBIT GOVERNMENT FROM TAKING PRIVATE PROPERTY BY EMINENT DOMAIN FOR CERTAIN PRIVATE PURPOSES The proposed constitutional amendment would:
• Prohibit government from taking private property for transfer to another private individual or business for purposes of economic development or increasing tax revenue.
• Provide that if an individual’s principal residence is taken by government for public use, the individual must be paid at least 125% of property’s fair market value.
• Require government that takes a private property to demonstrate that the taking is for a public use; if taken to eliminate blight, require a higher standard of proof to demonstrate that the taking of that property is for a public use.
• Preserve existing rights of property owners.

Should this proposal be adopted? Yes 􀀀 No 􀀀

Methinks yes. Eminent domain has long sucked in my eyes. I wonder what rich guy they grabbed a house from to finally get this on the ballot.
• EDUCATIONAL FUNDING GUARANTEE: Initiative petition approved as to form December 7, 2005; signatures filed February 21, 2006; petition determined sufficient June 5, 2006; proposal presented to State Legislature for consideration June 5, 2006; no action taken by State Legislature during 40-day consideration period.
BALLOT LANGUAGE: The following ballot language was approved by the Board of State Canvassers on August 25, 2006:

PROPOSAL 06-5 A LEGISLATIVE INITIATIVE TO ESTABLISH MANDATORY SCHOOL FUNDING LEVELS
The proposed law would:

• Increase current funding by approximately $565 million and require State to provide annual funding increases equal to the rate of inflation for public schools, intermediate school districts, community colleges, and higher education (includes state universities and financial aid/grant programs).

• Require State to fund any deficiencies from General Fund.

• Base funding for school districts with a declining enrollment on three-year student enrollment average.

• Reduce and cap retirement fund contribution paid by public schools, community colleges and state universities; shift remaining portion to state.

• Reduce funding gap between school districts receiving basic per-pupil foundation allowance and those receiving maximum foundation allowance.

Should this proposed law be approved? Yes No 􀀀

This one I'm fiery on. This needs to pass. With schools of choice and the charters going in and out of business, certain schools are losing pupils and funding for mulitple years and then having to reabsorb those pupils when the students come back without having the resources built up by having them there for years.

If you want me to photocopy the same amount of material year after year and keep increasing my paper costs, you need to increase my funding. No, the buzzwords "student achievement" aren't in here, but trust me, materials, a warm classroom, extra paper and a teacher who isn't working a second job to pay rent are linked to student success.

Next, retirement is indeed a crazy thing. Can I have my 401K now please? The current system of pensions is going to collapse without help (sort of the same way social security is supposed to). I'm not really interested in giving my employer my promised retirement package and knowing it's not solvent as I relinquish it.

And it's really the poorer districts which are hurt. Horrid inequalities. Unto the least of these, it's done unto Him.

II. LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS ENACTED BY STATE LEGISLATURE
A. REPEAL SBT: Initiative petition approved as to form April 11, 2006; signatures filed May 30, 2006; petition determined sufficient July 28, 2006; proposal presented to State Legislature for consideration July 28, 2006; enacted by State Legislature August 9, 2006 (proposal will not appear on ballot due to enactment). Purpose: Legislative initiative to repeal the Single Business Tax Act; provide for the collection of taxes due under current law on business activity through December 31, 2007; and encourage the legislature to adopt a tax that is “less burdensome and less costly to employers, and more conducive to job creation and investment.”

Ummm.... all that talk about the single business tax? It's already gone.

God's Plan Involving Snow

2006-10-12T22:49:00.000-04:00

My cat brought me a roach this evening. Picked it right out of her cat food and brought it over.

I'm pretty rational about most things, but I'm pretty irrational about roaches. I was happy to discover I didn't react as I thought I would (move immediately). Instead, after a bit of horrified shrieking and a few tears I realized I had to solve this one myself. Amy's not here. David's five hours away. Mark moved to California. I'm not about to try to move in with the newlyweds until I can get an exterminator here.

Perhaps God sent the snow just so I wouldn't decide to camp out in the back yard for a few days. It certainly kept me from running out into the yard in my PJs and standing there helpless waiting for rescue.

So I went to Walmart (I needed Zero Frizz--they're the only place I can find that carries it anymore, so it was a two-birds thing) and bought a vertiable arsenal of roach killing products. Tonight I'm going to sleep very uneasily, eat only things kept in the fridge and pray for dawn. Tomorrow, I'm gonna use 'em, pack up the cat and head to Cincinnati. Let's hope for the best.

2006-10-12T18:52:00.000-04:00

Dear Michigan,

It is snowing today. Today is October 11. OCTOBER!!!! Under our agreement fo rme to live here, I am to put up with a number of gray, drizzly, wet days throughout the year. You, on the other hand, are to have a reasonably short, mildish winter to start no sooner than American Thanksgiving Day.

You have clearly overstepped your bounds and I insist that you cease and desist with the snowing immediately and return to the crisp autumn days that are scheduled for early October.

Sincerely,
Meg

Dear Meg,

While we understand your concern about the early onset of snow this season, if you refer to the clause on page 321.5.46.21.2.1, subset B of So You've Decided to Say Yes! to Michigan, you will notice that in the event of an excess stock of specific weather patterns, Michigan reserves the right to use that excess at its discretion.

Today we chose to utilize our overstock of snow in hopes of setting a new record. We are sure you can appreciate the unique opportunity to be a part of the earliest onset of snow in Michigan history.

Regards,
The State of Michigan

Dear Michigan,

I couldn't care less about your stupid record. I want to go to a cider mill and pick apples tomorrow. When you decided to snow early did you think about the fruit farmers? Tell me, did you!?!

Snow is for white Chirstmases and swearing at in January. How many Christmases have you ruined by bad management of the snow and frost? How many fruit farmers' children will go without a dancing Elmo doll this Christmas because of your bad management?

Sincerely,
Meg

Dear Meg,

Nee-ner-nee-ner-nee-ner. Your indignant tone incites us to taunt you.
Are you not the same teacher woman who rejoices at snow days and likes to sled? You've had a good summer. Let it go at that.

--Michigan

Dude,
You are soooooo not getting me a snow day out of this. I repeat, you are way outside your jurisdiction and I will take further action if you don't cut it out and have the snow out of here by Saturday morning. You've got 36 hours.

--Meg

Granholm or Devos?

2006-10-10T21:41:00.000-04:00

My Day:

5:00 am: Get up, stumble to kitchen, make coffee, get in shower, do hair, etc.
6:40: Running WAY late, I dump over the rubber plant in the living room, and leave it so I can get to school.
7:15: Collect copies off copier, update field trip list, realize it’s parent visitation day. Crap. Not enough handouts and a destroy-able outfit.
7:35-11:55: teach like mad, prep students for Thursday’s test, administering a vocab quiz, go over handouts, deal with attendance contracts, lead discussion including parents, need to pee badly.
11:56: Pee. Have lunch, read email. Go on prep. Find out what my MSU seniors need in the next week. Call back two parents who have concerns. Make sub plans for Drama and Thr. Prd. (field trip tomorrow to Romeo & Juliet, six kids needed scholarships for ticket and bus. That’s a lot of cash out of pocket. I’ll call in sick because the kids can’t afford to pay for my sub…worry about budget). Grade vocab quizzes (don’t finish). RSVP to LCC costume shop for event Oct. 11 from 3-6 (must cancel tech, but hey, tons of free stuff). Draw up plans for a platform. Need to find time to photocopy the plans and clean out car.
1:30: Teach theatre production.
2:35: Grab snack of popcorn. Make a shop task list. Write down instructions for wallpaper application to the flats.
3:00: Tech. Wish desperately to sit down for just a moment.
5:20: Get bridesmaids dress from car on other side of the building.
5:40: Have dress fitted by costume mistress.
6:10: Go back to classroom. Shut down technology. Review attendance. Write first section of test for Thursday. Return parent phone call.
6:45: Head to post office. Don’t mail package.
7:10: Home. Cold pizza and a banana. David calls to talk Frankfurt.
8:20: Shower to get rid of paste in my hair. Vacuum. Watch debate.

Let’s talk for a moment about the gubernatorial race. I’m watching the debate and Devos make me want to hurl (I’m feeling very mature tonight). Governors don’t have control over federal policies like NAFTA and CAFTA. Therefore, how can he pretend he’ll keep good, well-paying manufacturing jobs in Michigan? Greensville. ‘Nuff said. How can he even summon the gall to talk about exporting GM cars to China when they pay a 3% tariff and we pay so much more?

Now let’s talk about my job. You read the above. Do I seem like a slacker? How much of a raise do you get per year? More than 2%? That’s where I’m at if the budget goes well. Less if it doesn’t. No chance for a bonus if income from monies attached to students who move into the district because I do my job well pushes our district balance higher.

My retirement is a pension. Awesome if the state stays stable and I teach in Michigan for ten years. As it is, if I move down to Ohio, I forfeit ALL of it. Minus the money I’ve contributed personally. Which can stay in an account and earn 2% annually.

And I have five point two three years and a Master’s degree!

Now don’t get me wrong, I think merit pay is a hole we don’t want to crawl down. But please don’t tell me I’m overcompensated.

Let’s talk about merit pay.

As a school it’s a bad idea. Given that parental involvement is the most significant predictor of student success, I don’t think I get credit for teaching a in a district with good parents that value education. And my colleagues shouldn’t be penalized for teaching in areas that are unsupportive of their children or who don’t value formal education. Let’s not even get into the monetary disparity issues.

As an individual I’d think merit pay was a great idea if I got the honors kids and didn’t have to take special education students’ scores into my success average. Isn’t it those students who aren’t supposed to be left behind? Do you want your average-minded (or below-average minded) kid in a school that makes them a liability to be sloughed off as soon as possible instead of a project to be helped along?

Honestly, I’d strike on that issue. No thanks Mr. Devos. No thanks.

Many, Many Things Before The Snow Comes

2006-10-09T21:35:00.000-04:00

Mmm. So many good things this last few weeks.

As many have pointed out, the Jenny/Pete Wedding was every bit as elegant and fun as expected (Jenny does have a knack for these things).
Two of my favorite moments: When Jenny walked in, Pete mouthed "oh yeah" (I'm pretty sure it was unconcious) and just glowed down the aisle at her. I almost caught that moment on film, but I'll post the moment after.
The second moment was at the reception--Pete was doing his usual absent-minded, semi-weird-place-to-touch-Jenny-thing on the top seam on the back of Jenny's gorgeous dress and she was sort of twitching a bit (I'm betting it half tickled, half itched). Then she broke eye contact and looked up at him, broke into a huge smile and sort of leaned into his shoulder.

Yeah, they'll make it just fine.

Past that, this weekend was David's birthday and one year of us reconnecting and dating. We were planning to go to Cedar Point, but since Divideds Day with P&G was just a few weeks ago, we decided to do Cincinnati instead. The city has sooooooooo much to offer. We ended up goofing off looking at furniture most of Saturday (Yikes! I have a say in major purchses! This is COOL! And majorly freeeeeeeeeaks me out!) then went down the the river for a festival.

I really liked Old Crowe Medicine Show (I think their CD is on my buy list--to giv eyou an idea of sound, they have played with Gillian Welch and on the Prairie Home Companion) and was amibivilant about Madeski Martin and Wood. I also discovered I like Wilco much better in concert than recorded. An added bonus was that David got the chorus from "I'm The Man Who Loves You" stuck in his head and sung it to me all day Sunday. Who doesn't like that?

The great meal of the weekend was at a local restaurant named "Honey" that's rated in Cincinnati's top ten places for brunch (he actually has two of the top ten within walking distance of his house) and had this incredible honey-laced polenta with berry compote. I'm amazed. Anybody know how to make polenta?

A Useless Musing

2006-10-03T23:58:00.000-04:00

I had a jelly donut today. I really didn't want the donut, but I wanted the red filling. If I had had a spoon I probably woun't have eaten the donut, I would have just scooped out the red gel.

I like the red gel that much.

Is red a recognized flavor?

I kinda think it is. How many of you knew exactly the taste I was describing when I said "red". 'Cause it's not really cherry or strawberry or raspberry or pomegrante or whatever other red fruit. Kinda like trying to classify Prince. He's not actaully a prince or even very prince-y. And sometimes he's not even Prince. He's The Artist Formerly Known As Prince. It's just the flavor informally known as red.

It really seems like it should work. Heck, an orange is orange and tastes like an orange, at least in English. I remember asking for a vodka and orange drink in Spain and I used the word anaranjado instead of naranja; all I got was a weird look. I ended up with a vodka and lemon instead.

Adding to this important issue, we have the Eddie Bauer colors. Things aren't green or purple, they are dark pepper and eggplant. Why shouldn't I start calling green peppers greens? Then again, now that I think about it we do call general rabbit food "greens". Never mind.

So it turns out I'm Cheer Bear.

	Cheer Bear You're the Care Bear cheerleader! Your spunky personality and optimisim lifts everyone's spirit. Though you want everyone to be happy, you stand your ground on issues you feel strongly about and this can bring disunity among your friends. Despite this, you are a true believer in working together.
*Take the Which Care Bear Are You?* Quiz!**

I'm in a much better mood than yesterday.

What the F***K is WRONG with this Country?!

2006-10-02T15:07:00.000-04:00

I. am. so. angry.

When did it become open season on students? Sure it's hunting season, is there some sicko out there issuing permits to all the local psychos? NOBODY is so sick that this is permissable. Wanna talk tangible evil? These guys got it.

Last week I was sick to my stomach about the Colorado incident (and I don't give a flying f* that he left a suicide/apology note. It only means he meant every bit of the sexual assault and murder) and my blood boiled when I thought about that principal in Wisconsin shot because a student was pissed off about a disciplinary action. And as I type there's a school in Vegas on lockdown while they look for a student who was spotted on campus in posession of a gun.

I don't think there's a teacher or a student in our schools that hasn't wondered what we'd do if a shooter showed up. Heck, I worry every time the whole school gets together for a pep rally.

The fact that that thought even occurs to me is VILE. It is DIGUSTING. It is NOT what I signed on for.

And I'm annoyed by the whole school security hysteria in the media. I teach with my door locked. We lock all periphery doors. We make visitors sign in. We have community members as security guards.

But it's never going to be enough. We're not a military institution, we're an American school. Should we become military and lock down every day? Because teenagers are so into conformity. I'm not willing to live like that.

I'm watching CNN at school right now. I never do that. But I want to know. Who is he to take revenge on little girls (ages 6-13) for something that happened 20 years ago? How the heck do the Amish Tee someone off enough to justify that?

And I'm equally pissed off about the mass kidnapping in Baghdad.

Pissed, pissed, pissed.
You probably don't want to talk to me today.

2006-10-02T12:59:00.000-04:00

When I joke about shaving my cat, this is what I'm thinking.

Need Help!

2006-09-29T00:20:00.001-04:00

I'm trying to put together a mix cd for David's Birthday. Rather than use a bunch of sappy songs (he's not all that sappy), I want to get the song that was topping the charts that day each year. My problem: Some of these songs are so cheesy I can't stomach paying money for them (ie Endless Love, the Macarena or anything by Mariah Carey), others I know he has on his ipod and just want them in order to complete the sequence (ie Queen songs or Mellencamp). Here's the list:

1974--I Honestly Love You - Olivia Newton-John
1975--I'm Sorry - John Denver
1976--Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry
1977-Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band – Meco
1978--Boogie Oogie Oogie - A Taste of Honey
1979--Sad Eyes - Robert John
1980--Another One Bites the Dust – Queen
1981--Endless Love - Diana Ross & Lionel Richie
1982--Jack & Diane - John Mellencamp
1983--Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler
1984--Let's Go Crazy - Prince & The Revolution
1985--Money For Nothing - Dire Straits
1986--Stuck with You Huey Lewis & the News
1987--Here I Go Again – Whitesnake
1988--Love Bites - Def Leppard
1989--Miss You Much - Janet Jackson
1990--Close to You - Maxi Priest
1991--Good Vibrations - Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch featuring Loleatta Holloway
1992--End of the Road - Boyz II Men
1993--Dreamlover - Mariah Carey
1994--I'll Make Love To You - Boyz II Men
1995--Fantasy - Mariah Carey
1996--Macarena (bayside boys remix) -Los Del Rio
1997--4 Seasons of Loneliness - Boyz II Men
1998--The First Night – Monica
1999--Unpretty – TLC
2000--Music – Madonna
2001--I'm Real - Jennifer Lopez featuring Ja Rule
2002--Dilemma - Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland
2003--Baby Boy - Beyonce featuring Sean Paul
2004--Goodies - Ciara featuring Petey Pablo
2005—Golddigger—Kanye West featuring Jamie Fox

If you can hook me up with anything out of your collection, let me know and I'll invade your space PDQ and add it to the CD. Thanks!

Some things I just shouldn't admit

2006-09-25T23:22:00.000-04:00

But where's the fun in that?

How does one deal with 91 packets of writing prompts from emergent sophmore writers? Big ole glass of Good Harbor cherry wine, five gel pens and a soft couch.

Heh. It's all about coping.

Evidence

2006-09-23T21:06:00.000-04:00

Can you find the error in this poster for a glass decanter at Target?

This is evidence that I am well on my way to fuddy-duddiness. I even turned down a great chance to go out for drinks Friday because I was tired and needed clean underwear to go to the baby shower more that I needed a glass of Amber Bock!

Sigh. Whatever shall become of me?

What's Meg Been Doing?

2006-09-23T20:35:00.000-04:00

Meg's been being a teacher. Meg's been being a girlfriend. Meg's been arguing with custodians and building a $20,000 set with $1000. Meg's been leaving her laundry too long. Meg's been unpluggin' the TV in her bedroom (in there so there's something to do while she straightens up) because her cat tends to rub up against it and turn on infomercials at 3am. Meg's been dancing to Abba at 5:30 in the morning because they're so sunny on a rainy day. Meg's been losing 11 pounds. Meg's been assigning too much homework. Meg's been going to weddings-- anybody have pics of Elan's?

Check this out:
Is such a thing as frightening to you as to me? I must assume an adult was behind this, though it seems like brainchild of a three-year old.

How witty. Midland made a bridge that has three arms to cover all angles of a fork in the river. To communicate the uniquness of the bridge, they created a new title for the structure--a tridge. Get it? So funny you forgot to laugh? Yep, that's about what I thought too.

I painted this! I am especially proud of my freehand-ed cat on the the tail of the "g".

Is that not the most pleasant painting torso you have ever seen? I like the word "torso". I must work it into conversation more often.

A Rainy Saturday

2006-09-23T20:13:00.000-04:00

Today was Baby Shower Day. This was nice because lately it has been Wedding Shower Day or Wedding Day. I like both Wedding Shower Day and Wedding Day (especially when I do not have to play toilet paper bride or wear pantyhose), but it was nice to think about babies for a while instead of brides and grooms and Hershey's Kisses tied into little flower favors.

Of course, part of the shocking baby thoughts included a fair amount of thinking about the fact that a scant five years ago they were a brand-spanking-new Bride and Groom of the class that would go well on the top of a wedding cake (BTW did you know you can purchase a personalized bride-and-groom cake topper based on a picture of the aforementioned for a mere $150? You can even choose between standard or bobble-headed).

So here:

Andrea from the back (not very impressive, right?)

The Happy Parents (Suprised? Impressed yet? Geez, you're difficult. Ok...)

She can't even do her own shoes anymore!( How's that? If that doesn't convince yo.. ok, one more...)

Arty Andrea (taken by her aunt, not me) See!?! Little woman, huge bebe! Yikes! Hah!

It was good to be with them.
Sometimes I miss my college world like salt.

2006-09-22T19:47:00.000-04:00

My father claims students are carriers of the plague. I'm not willing to go quite that far, but I will say there's always a point in the fall (aka right about now) when the allergy sufferers, the swimmers, the too-tireds, the emotionally distraught and the truely sick all simultaniously develop post-nasal drip and I can't keep enough tissues in the room to save my life.

I also live in deadly fear of contracting said post-nasal drip and a develop a slight phobia of anyone who asks for tissues.

I just don't want to use sick days yet.

All this to say, I had a weather headache today and you shoud have seen me sucking down the zinc. Good grief!

And this is my nightmare:

2006-09-22T00:35:00.000-04:00

Eat a Roach and Be the First in Line
By Associated Press
Thu Sep 21, 4:34 PM

GURNEE, Ill. - Why wait in line when you can just eat a cockroach? That's the question Six Flags Great America is asking its thrill seekers during its Halloween-themed FrightFest. The amusement park is daring customers to eat a live Madagascar hissing cockroach in exchange for unlimited line-jumping privileges.

The promotion, which has Lake County Health Department officials shaking their heads, starts Oct. 7.

Anyone who chows down the entire 2- to 3-inch horned cockroach gets a pass for four people to cut to the front of ride lines through Oct. 29.

Park officials insist it's safe to eat the crunchy critters, but health officials are cautioning participants.

Consuming live roaches might increase risks of gastrointestinal illness and allergies, according to Bill Mays, Lake County Health Department's community health director.

Cockroach eaters will have to sign waivers and still pay admission fees, said Six Flags spokesman James Taylor.

The bug buffet continues with a cooked roach eating contest Oct. 13 _ Friday, Oct. 13.

Taylor says he's hoping someone can beat the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records feat in which a British man downed 36 cockroaches.

"I've heard people say, 'Wow,' 'Ew,' a lot of one-worders," Taylor said. "A lot have said that they wouldn't eat a cockroach, but they sure would like to see someone else do it."

To all of this I say, oh, nooo, no! NO!
I am so glad this isn't happening at Cedar Point where I am taking my boyfriend for his birthday.

Arrgh!

2006-09-19T12:38:00.000-04:00

It be International Talk Like A Pirate Day mateys! I wish ye well on yer seafaring ways and prey thar't ye'll find time to spread the greetin's amongst swabbing thee deck and hoist'in the mizzen mast!

I fret well. Here I sit and fret about custodians and cat collars, brake repairs and powdered cheese and work and budgeting and my, but I am good at it.

I shall fight the power! No more fretting today!