7 Quick Takes Friday, 2/6

I can't believe it's already Friday again! Time for my 7 Quick Takes -- don't forget to visit Jen at Conversion Diary for hers and the rest.

-1-

Yesterday I taught a song I learned at my grade school to the school choir at the same grade school. That particular layering of memories was a very interesting experience.

-2-

With the encouragement of my friend Jazmyn, I'm trying out Twitter. So far I'm reserving judgement, but I have enjoyed reading "tweets" from fellow bloggers and real life friends. And the idea of "microblogging" is very appealing. Here's my page, if you'd like to read my very random thoughts and what I had for dinner (mushroom ravioli, yum!).

-3-

I wish I could go back in time and make all my usernames the same on all the sites I frequent. Not only so my friends from different sites would recognize from site to site, but also so I would feel more like just one person!

-4-

Andy and Rose are attending a Daddy-Daughter Dance at the school where he teaches tonight. It will be their first, and both are so excited about their "date," they could hardly talk about anything else at dinner last night. It's going to be so sweet.

-5-

However, because of #4, we will have to miss the Annual Alumni Concert at our high school. It's a great tradition. The current choir students present pieces from their repetoire, an alumnus or group of alumni perform, and then at the end, all alumni attending are invited up to the stage to sing two pieces that have been sung for decades by the choir. Andy and I met through the choir, so there's that added level of specialness. We haven't been able to go for the last few years, but I was really hoping to go this year since I've reconnected with a lot of choir friends through Facebook. I just didn't feel like arranging for a babysitter for Jamie just to go by myself. Oh well, maybe next year.

-6-

My little James is sitting up better and better. I know you're not supposed to compare your children, so I won't. I'm just glad he's finally doing it. Look how hard he's working to get at that toy! And here he is, not too schlumped over.
-7-

I get to have some "me" time tomorrow morning with my best friend Rachel. We're going to shop and have lunch together. I can't wait!

7 Quick Takes Friday, 1/30

-1-

I've never been so grateful for coffee as I am this morning. I've definitely come down with something.

-2-

What is Twitter? I've been through the little "What is Twitter" show they have on their homepage, and I've looked at people's pages, but I just don't get it. It seems to be akin to the status updates on Facebook. Do any of you do this, and what's the difference from Facebook? And what's the appeal, for you?

-3-

The Yarn Harlot apparently just started Twittering. And apparently, she follows Wil Wheaton. Who knew?

-4-

The hand is still painin' me a bit. I may have to go see the doctor. I really don't want to.

-5-

Because of #4, I haven't been knitting as much, and I've actually been watching TV instead of just listening to it and glancing up from time to time. I finally saw a commercial I've heard about a hundred times, and there was a kitty in it, and I never knew -- I love cats. (oy, can you tell I have no brain this morning?)

-6-

People, if you buy something you had no intention of buying, but buy it only because it is on sale or you have a coupon, you're not really saving any money.

-7-

Jamie is 7 months old today! I can't believe how quickly the time has flown.

I can't believe I was able to put this together this morning. I feel so lousy. Please visit the originator of 7 Quick Takes for a much better post, and links to others who participate in 7 Quick Takes Friday.

Boring

I spent most of my free time yesterday dealing with this computer. It was running s-o s-l-o-w-l-y. It was so slow that the weekly virus scan, which is set up to run at 4 am Fridays, was still running when I got to the computer at 6:30, and not only that, it had only checked seven files. So I cancelled it and tried to write my blog entry for yesterday, which took more than an hour because it was so link heavy. Each time I opened a new tab to open a page I wanted to link, it took literally a minute or more to open. Frustrating.

I ran Spybot and Disk Cleanup, then realized that a print job I had cancelled the day before was still in the process of deleting. After more than 15 hours. Nothing I did would make this print job go away, so I uninstalled the printer software and reinstalled it. Now everything is running as well as before. Yay! But pretty much every free moment was spent in front of the computer, and not doing anything fun, either. Boo!

The good news? While waiting for scans and uninstalls and installs to run, I finished seaming and weaving in all the ends of the ... whoops, almost spilled the beans! ;)

One reason I love the internet

I just read Sarah's review of a parenting book by Dr. Ray Guarendi. The book is called You're a Better Parent Than You Think!: A Guide to Common-sense Parenting. The review was a good one, and very timely, as I'm starting to find myself reacting to some of Rose's behaviors with frustration and anger. She and I are a great deal alike, which I know adds to the frustration. I'm hoping that the book will give me some insights into how I can react appropriately to her, or better yet, be proactive in what I do and say to help her act better. Sarah points out that in the text of the book, Dr. Ray uses the term "good sense" rather than "common sense," which I like very much since it seems common sense isn't really all that common!

Anyway, back to why I love the internet. First, the whole concept of blogging as a means of "regular people" sharing information and opinions. Next, as soon as I had read her post, I went to The Library Network for my area, checked to see if it is available, and it is, at a couple of the libraries. I placed a hold on it, and I'll receive an e-mail in a day or two, as soon as it's been delivered to my local library. All within a matter of minutes! I love the internet.

7 Quick Takes Friday, 1/9

With thanks to Jen for letting us share the fun. Hers and all the rest can be found here.

-1-

It's been really fun to discover new (to me) blogs through the 7 Quick Takes project. A couple of them I've enjoyed enough to follow and add to my sidebar. And I love that many participating bloggers have been kind enough to leave comments. Thank you!

-2-

I probably shouldn't put this in writing since, if I do, it'll all change tomorrow, but for the last 5 nights my little James has only awakened once, at 5am, to nurse, then slept again until his normal wake-up time. I'm trying not to get too excited, but it's the first real consistent nighttime sleeping pattern he's had. Also, having had a good night's sleep myself, I don't mind just getting up for the day and getting started, in fact, it's been quite enjoyable to have an extra hour to myself every morning.

-3-

Maybe I should use the extra time to start writing in his baby book. He's already 6 months old and I've filled out maybe a page and a half. Ugh.

-4-

I have my virus scan to run early Friday mornings. Looks like I'm going to have to change that time now that I'm hoping to actually use the computer at that time. It makes everything run so frustratingly slow.

-5-

Speaking of frustrating, my town's marching band (of which I was a member) has been getting pressure to change its name before they go march in the Inaugural Parade later this month. They are the Wyandotte Marching Chiefs, in homage to the Wyandot tribe that once lived here. Now a professor in Wisconsin, who as far as I know has never been here and probably doesn't know much about our town or its history, thinks they need to change the name of the band, and all the uniforms. In two weeks. *sigh* I do want to be sensitive. Can anyone out there give me some gentle insight into how "Chiefs" is disrespectful? I hate to be glib, but it's certainly more respectful than "Fighting Irish!"

Update, 1/10: I got word from a mom of one of the band kids that the Chief of the Wyandotte Nation actually flew in from Oklahoma yesterday, visited with the band, said he was very proud of them and fully endorsed their name. Yeah!

-6-

I figured out my Blogger sign-in problem. I had bookmarked the start page instead of the Dashboard page. Once I replaced my bookmark, I didn't have to sign in every time.

-7-

I have to replace my kitchen faucet. I don't want to, I don't know when I'm going to have time, but I have to.

7 Quick Takes Friday

With thanks again to Jen, for letting me participate.

-1-

I started a hat yesterday. Twice. I have to start it a third time this morning. Here's to hoping it goes better today.

-2-

I have to keep a notepad nearby to jot down any thoughts throughout the week that I may use for 7 Quick Takes Friday. My mind seems to go absolutely blank when I sit down in front of the computer to write. The same thing happens on Facebook when I go to fill out my profile information. "Interests? What are my interests? Do I have any?" Ridiculous.

-3-

Blogger won't remember me. When I check the remember me box, I still have to enter my e-mail and password the next time I come back to make a post or check my blogs. Google remembers me just fine, so what's wrong with Blogger? If anyone has any insight, please share.

-4-

I've been following Flylady for about 3 years now, on and off. Lately it's been off, what with the expected disruptions to our routine that a newborn brought. But now that we're settling into a new normal around the house, I've been re-incorporating some of her ideas back into my housekeeping. I don't follow to the letter, but I can really live with the idea that a little bit of work every day is better than killing yourself cleaning like a crazy woman a couple times a month.

-5-

I want to strongly recommend this book: The Green Beauty Guide (here's a good review). Even if you're not heavily into organic buying (I'm not) and even if you just check it out of the library (I did, but I'm going to buy it soon), it has some very important information about how the beauty items you use can affect your health. If you are a parent, I must even more strongly recommend reading it.

-6-

Our little downtown bakery closed earlier this fall, and I'm still sad about it. They were so wonderful there, they knew us by name, and their breads were simply beautiful. Someone has since taken over who doesn't even bake, they have all their breads and pastries shipped in. I went in once since this new management and haven't gone back. It smelled like smoke in there, cigarette smoke! and he didn't even know what pumpernickel bread was! I said, "Brown bread, dark brown bread." "This is brown," he said, motioning to the wheat bread. Wheat! Wheat is nothing like pumpernickel and you run a bakery? Argh!

-7-

The good news is, we kept in touch with the lovely woman who made the cakes there. We've always gotten Rose's birthday cakes from that bakery, and when we learned they were closing, we made sure we asked Amy for her number. She is going to make Rose a blue cake. Rose has been hoping for a blue cake since right after her last birthday (her favorite color is blue). So it's going to be blue frosting with four white roses and some holly. I'm so glad.