99 things

Yes, I'm passing this one along.. live with it.
Speaking of..  I better get cracking on this:

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightening storm

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitchhiked

23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo’s David  (I'm counting this, there is a statue of this in Delaware park)

41. Sung karaoke 

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone’s life 

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Got a tattoo

94. Had a baby 

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee 

Rules

This weekend was our end of year performance for Erin's Musical Theatre and Jazz dance.  Its a big production overall and the director strives for a professional performance.  This means a backstage crew.  We are the eyes and ears of the director.  So I am the mean mom.   During my time on Stage Left, I pissed of several performers and moms.

We have House rules.  These are not our rules but the building we are in.  We ALL have to follow them.  We have Studio rules.  This goes without saying.

I enforced these rules.  And people got mad.  Really?  Have we reached a point in our society where rules are now optional? You can do what pleases you?  No.  Sorry.  no. I'm not sorry.  You messed up. You didn't do what you were supposed to do. And yes.. we did put ALL of this in the news letter and Performance prep sheets we passed out and emailed to you.  If you didn't read them or listen to us repeat ourselves...you have no right to be upset with me.

I stood my ground and won.  My backstage was well run and all the quick changes went off  without a hitch.  Suck it Dance Moms..  Abby Lee is waiting for you.

I'm not old.

Yes, I am now 37. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to act. And as a matter of fact, I don't look like my age either. Thanks to both Mom and Dad and their Dorian Gray genes, I'm mistaken for a 25 year old. Yes. Awesome. I know. So I'm going to keep doing what I am doing. I don't care.  I like putting my hair in pig tails.

NO WAY!!

Yes.. thats me.. in the middle.  CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??  I did a bit on being the Mean mom and setting rules.   25 reads so far....  I'm going to freak out for a min.  thanks.

my odd bird

I have an odd bird.  She's 9.  And she's my kid.  This leads to some unfortunate issues.  Like making friends.  Its not that she's unfriendly or mean.  She's too smart for her own good.  We've always exposed her to things not in her age range.  When she was 1-2, we exposed her to the Muppet Show and Doctor Who.  Because of this, she now loves Alice Cooper and will scream "DON'T BLINK" when we drive by statues.

We also exposed her to a lot of animal documentaries and science shows (Yes, Mythbusters was a must for us).  So because of this, the questions she asks on field trips and in the classroom will often catch the adults off guard and make the kids look at her funny.   She loves to go to museums.  She loves hands on experiments.  We took a group of her friends to our Science Museum for the CSI exhibit and it really seemed that E was the only one really into it.  She had to help some of the Older girls.  I was shocked and proud at the same time.

This leads us to why she doesn't get along with kids her own age.  I was the same way.  I hung around with adults more than kids.  She does too.  My friends are a lot of geekiness through and through.  From Teachers, to IT folk to you name it.  But this lends it self to a whole set of issues.  Her friends don't get her. My friends do.  The kids poke fun at her because she likes to talk to the teacher.  E gets super frustrated with her peer group when they just don't see it her way or how they just don't know something so basic to her.  Its no one's fault - the kids just haven't been exposed to the same things she has.  Try explaining that to a 9 year old who was determined to make her school project Catapult shoot marshmallows as far as possible so it went through a redesign phase.

My odd bird was asked yesterday why she was wearing "funny clothes".  She was trying on some Medieval based garb for a fundraiser we are doing this weekend.  Our hobby is medieval living history (the SCA).  She loves it.  So when challenged with this question, she answered the same way I do.  The girls who asked it gave her a funny look.  Then I stepped in and repeated what E said and the girls were understanding.  Coming from an adult, it makes sense.  From a 9 year old.. she's off her rocker??

I know I'm not alone in this.  Some of my close friends who have kids are challenged with the same thing.  Kids too smart for their own good.  So I'll keep re-enforcing that 1) Science and Math are cool 2)Always ask questions 3)explore 4)the friends you have now are not the ones you'll have when you are older and 5) Don't Blink.

learning why a huge marble sphere can spin super fast with water flow at the Botanical Gardens