Monday, November 7, 2011

Random Bits

My friend Lisa who blogs at Book Lists Life does a Random Friday post most weeks, which I love to read so I thought I'd give it a try, too. Lisa loves to read and craft--she's very talented with the sewing needle! Best of all, Lisa has three adorable little kids who bring all sorts of adventures to her days. Stop by her blog and say hello.
  • My 16 year old (11th grade) now has her driver's learning permit and is asking to drive all the time. It's a little terrifying. Please send me calmness or strength or ... something!  
  • She is also in the very early stages of the whole college process. She recently took the PSATs and is starting to think about college options. She went to her guidance counselor this week to find out her GPA and it's a 3.94! (wow!) She's an honors student, does sports and is involved with a club or two and actively pursues photography recreationally and for the school. We are so proud of her!
  • My 12 year old (7th grade) is driving us crazy half the time with her tween attitude. Thank goodness she's so cute and sweet and fun the other half of the time. ;o) 
  • Right now, I'm in the middle of reading four different books, something I rarely do. I find it extremely distracting and I make no progress reading any of the books. I'm going to focus on just ONE book at a time starting today with the one due back to the library the soonest and that would be The Girl Who Circumvented Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente. It's a charming middle grade novel about a girl who does all fun stuff in the title, meeting all sorts of fascinating beings along the way. The writing is whimsical and pretty insightful to this journey of life we're all on. 
  • After much deliberation on my part, I agreed on a 2 hour bike ride with my cycling partner last Saturday morning at 7:30am when it was barely light out [the morning before the time change] and only 34 F (1 C)! Brrr! I don't have all the proper technical clothing for this sort of riding, but I made do with some layers, wool ski socks and a borrowed bacaclava [like this one] from my husband, which helped a lot. I actually wasn't as cold as I thought I'd be on the bike, especially since we climbed three tough hills during the ride to keep warm. ; ) My toes were pretty much cold the entire time, though, so I don't know if I'd want to ride more than 2 hrs. in cold weather and probably only when there's no wind. The wind chill on the bike is cold enough!
  • Yesterday we cleaned up the branches and tree limbs in the yard that fell in last weekend's freak snow storm and I used a chain saw for the first time ever! It was actually kind of fun. Now we have a decent sized wood pile in our backyard. Would be nice if we had a fireplace to go with it... 
  • Halloween was a week ago today and I still haven't had a single piece of Halloween candy, BUT I have had some cookies and ice cream and a piece of coconut layer cake in the past week, though, so I I've essentially lost my bragging rights on this one... : /   
  • Normally I try to pretend not to notice all the Christmas stuff in stores until at least Thanksgiving weekend, but Trader Joe's has put out their holiday cookies and candies and other holiday treats and I admit I investigated. Everything is so tempting... maybe I'll buy something on my next visit. You know... for taste testing purposes so I know what would make a good hostess gift or something like that during the holiday season. 
  • Now that I mentioned Christmas, I may as well ask if anyone started their Christmas [or Hanukkah] shopping yet?  I have a few gift ideas for my family, but that's about as far as I've gotten. 
Your turn. What random bits do you have to share? 

15 comments:

  1. You have been up to a lot of stuff lately!
    :)

    Also, I'm 27 and my mom admits to being afraid to get into a car with me :) I think you're handling it great :D

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  2. Hi Alex! Well, I'm sure I'll get more comfortable with my daughter's driving as she gains more experience, but there's only one way to get more experience ... and that part is scary. lol

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  3. Wow, you have been busy. :)
    Good luck with the older one's driving! She'll do great and be super safe. :)
    The younger one...as long as the other half of the time is super adorable, it's all good. ;)

    Haven't started shopping yet. Been trying to NaNoWriMo it and failing terrible. O_o

    Oh, fyi...the jam you gave me was so awesome...my family ate it all without me. >_< I sampled two slices of bread with the heavenly jam. Put it in the fridge...and it was all gone. *faints* Lol. My parents thank you very much for the yummy food as they ate more than I. And I absolutely LOVED the amount I had. That shows...I should never savor. Just eat it all in one sitting, right? lol.

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  4. Hi little alys! :)
    Most days I can't believe my girls are so grown up. Even my baby who will be a teenager next spring. *sob*

    Oh, good luck with NaNoWriMo! Just do the best you can. One of youngest's friends is doing NaNoWriMo! Her language arts teacher is encouraging the kids to participate. Isn't that great?

    SO glad you guys loved the jam but sorry you got barely more than a taste. Next time I'll send you a bigger jar. :)

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  5. You'll be fine with a teenager driving, I'm sure. My sixteen year old doesn't want to drive. She says there are too many crazy drivers out there. Since her boss won't give her the 5am shift because I'm the one driving her we're both sort of okay with this. *g*
    We had an MA tournament here this weekend. I am surprised at the differences in teachers. We ADORE ours even more than ever now.
    As for Christmas shopping? Heck yeah, I've started. I just hope the kids like what I've picked this year as they didn't give me a list. *g*

    Hope you have a wonderful weekend and I think you're allowed a few treats considering the two hour bike ride IN THE COLD. WTG!

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  6. I usually don't think about Christmas until November, but this year I got most of my Christmas shopping done in October due to some great sales. I only 3 people left to buy for.

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  7. The only Christmas present I bought was for me.

    I still don't know how people can read more then one book at time.

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  8. Actually, I have started--and pretty much I'm done too (my kids are adults now and it's easier all around, what with living elsewhere).

    My problem is getting what I did buy for my family in Mexico--shipping will probably cost more than the actual stuff!

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  9. She'll do great. We had my oldest drive any time he was in the car. Whether we went on a long 8 hour trip or just to the grocery store. He got a lot of great experience. Have her drive in the snow, the rain, all of it. And don't let the "I know, Mom"s get to you. They thrive on that, LOL.

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  10. I actually love this type of posts! Let us know how you're doing :)

    Don't worry about your eldest driving! It's a good thing she wants to! Otherwise, how else will she gain experience and confidence? Plus, it's not too bad in your neighborhood - traffic-wise.

    That's a great GPA!! I'm sure she'll get accepted wherever she wants!

    Good job on the Halloween candies! :) I'm sure the cookies, ice cream and cake were better than Halloween candies, so I say you made the right choice :)

    And no, I haven't started christmas shopping. Are you crazy? LOL

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  11. Hi Brandy :)
    I was okay with learning to drive when I was a teen, but not in any super big rush. I'm glad my daughter is enthusiastic, but it's scary. There are SO many things to pay attention to... *sigh*

    I'm happy to hear the kids did well at their MA tournament and it's also great to hear you were reminded how great your instructors are!

    I still can't believe I rode for 2 hrs. in 34 F. lol


    Hi Sarah! :)
    Yay! for the head start in your Christmas shopping. I actually started today on amazon. :D

    Hi Dru! :)
    HIGH FIVE for getting yourself a gift. I love that.

    The multiple book thing is NOT working for me. The only reason I attempt it now and then is being torn from reading what I want and hurrying to read a book because it's due back at the library. OR if one is a children's book or graphic novel and the other is regular grown up fiction. LOL.


    Hi azteclady! :)
    Another one almost done with Christmas shopping! Wow. You guys are encouraging me to get going.

    Oh hmm... thinking of very light weight gifts to send to Mexico... I don't know! Probably too risky to send jewelry... That's a tough one!

    Hi Lori! :)
    Oh so the "I know, Mom"s are universal, huh? I'm thinking, "No, you don't know. If you knew... you wouldn't have just done x y z."

    Hi nath! :)
    Aw, I'm glad you like my random bits. Maybe I'll do this more often! :)

    I guess you're right about my neighborhood being not too bad traffic-wise, although you were here on a summer day during non rush hour. It can get a little hectic. .. but you're right. She'll get better with more practice.

    I know!!! [Re: GPA]. I had excellent grades in high school, too... but not quite that high and I had no life. LOL! I wasn't nearly as "well rounded' as she is.

    I figure the Halloween candy was a major sabotage because once you have one piece, it's too easy to eat another and another and ...

    Wouldn't it be nice to have most of your shopping done before December? Then we can relax and bake and enjoy the season without being so harried. What do you say?

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  12. Excellent GPA! That, honors & the extras will help her get into the college she wants.

    My tween, he's 11, likes to tell me he's not a kid anymore, he's a man. LOL I use that attitude to get him to do stuff around the house. Like a 'man' would. :)

    I started my holiday shopping back in June/July. The trick is remember where everything is hidden. It never fails, after the new year I always find something I've hidden. :)

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  13. Hey! That's me! Always a nice surprise to see yourself elsewhere. Makes me want to do a weekly feature post on blogs I love, like we all used to do back in the blogging dark age.

    I always read more than one book at a time. Always. The only exception is if one catchs my attention so fully I read it straight through. And you KNOW I have so much time for that! (Actually, it happened recently. I'm gonna blog about it when I finish the series it's in. Like, within the last two weeks. Even with the weeks like my recent ones!)

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  14. LOL, I still have to figure whether we're doing something this year for Christmas. My family is not known to exchange gifts... so that means I don't have many gifts to buy :)

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  15. Lisa, yes, that's YOU! ; )
    I can understand reading more than one book at a time if they are in very different genres, like I'm doing now, but it still feels like unproductive reading to me. I think I prefer one book at a time, even if I don't always practice that! LOL!

    nath, not having many gifts to buy is a good thing! I tend to downsize the list every year, which is good for the wallet and helps keep the focus on enjoying the season and the time spent with friends and loved ones.

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