Blog Club

No, not like a book club, not like the former blogger meetups. In fact, nothing that involves the exchange of words at all. What I’m talking writing about is more like Fight Club – except no punches will be exchanged, no blood will be spilled.

In recent weeks, I’ve received glances, nods, greetings, smiles, all from people I do not know. Am I supposed to know them? Do they know me? Do they know me from my husband? Do they know me from this blog? I know there are more of you who read this than I am aware of, and some of you who I am aware of that read this, I do not know in person. So when you see me in passing, look me in the eye and give me a nod - no need to smile, or wave, just nod. Then I’ll know we have a connection – a blog connection. A one-sided connection. Unless of course, you have a blog too, in which case, if I see you in passing, I’ll give you a nod.

Join me in my not-so-secret secret society. Blog Club

Want some?

Want some pie?

Zombie Zorries

Today I felt like Zombie Zorris. I felt like a zombie and I just wanted to wear zorries. Not heels.

My Zombie Zorrie self didn’t even have the energy to change lanes even though I was the ninth vehicle in the right lane and there were only two vehicles in the left lane…there seemed to be a lot of us Zombie Zorries on the road this morning. I’m just glad I wasn’t the third Zombie Zorrie in my lane when the bucket and roofing tin flew out of the back of the truck of the second Zombie Zorrie in the other lane. Yeah…I needed coffee after that.

Bad Mommy. Whatever.

I bribe my daughter. I don’t care what the books say, I want her to eat her vegetables without always cleverly hiding them in the rest of her food – I want her to learn to like vegetables, therefore, I bribe her with dessert. Now, I don’t do this every day – she’ll eat dark leafy greens, no problem. Bok choi – yum! Kang kung – great! Choi sum – delicious!

Recently it has been chocolate covered sunflower seeds. Or sunseeds as Katelyn calls them.

You can get some at Expressions on Capitol Hill. I would buy other specialty chocolates and watch others buy pounds of these sweet little nuggets of fun. Finally, I bought some - and they are good.

Another book.

Check out this other book I made. More language learning fun to come!

Bad Boys

Sung by Katelyn:
"Bad boy, bad boy, what you gonna do when you come for me? Bad boy, good girl."

Oh no!

Movies

Ms. Pettigrew Lives for a Day - It was made well, and the ending was sweet. But I'm not that into it.

Red Belt - Entertaining. But it could should have been better.

Tropic Thunder - So funny!!

Introducing...

Marianas Touch. Experience bath and body with a Marianas touch.

If CUC and my children will cooperate this weekend, I'll post more.

Wednesday What Is It?

Blame CUC that its's late.

What is it?
Here's how to play.

Wednesday What Is It? Results

The results of last week's Wednesday What Is It?

A Keyboard!

5 points to KAP!
2 points each to Sheila, Boni, Kirida, Erdene and Mark.

Be ready, I'll post the next WWII this evening beteween 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saipan standard time (unless there is power at lunch time, in which case, that is when I'll post the next WWII).

Need for NASCAR?

Is there really a need for NASCAR? I mean, really? In a time of climate change and soaring gas prices, do we really need to watch cars drive aimlessly in circles or down dead end tracks? Do we really need to send all those harmful emissions into the atmosphere?

Let’s take all the money that is pumped into that “sport” and put it into a sport that does more than just pollute the air, something entertaining, something outdoors, something that can put food on the table…something like hunting.

What?

A little privacy, please.

Dear the Makers of Restroom Stalls,

Please do not leave gaps between panels so that the whole world can peer into my stall. I’m no construction genius, but I’m pretty sure the gaps can be filled. Drop me a note at create (at) deece (dot) net and I'll help you locate a gasket manufacturer in your area.

Respectfully,

Deece

Don't be in the dark.

On Saturday, the three-year-olds played “Power goes out, light the candles”, a game I reckon is being played by many young ones around the island. Well, rest assured, even when the power goes out, you don’t have to sit in the dark anymore. That’s right! Get yourself some solar lights, you know, the ones that you stake around your walkway or driveway? The bright white LED ones - they. are. awesome! Two solar lights were fully charged and strategically placed around our bedroom so as to take advantage of mirrors and bright white walls so when the power went out last night at 8:00 we were not in the dark. Granted, the lights dim as the night wears on, but if you always put the lights in the same place each night, no matter what time your power goes out, you will always have a point of reference to orient yourself in the room to locate a flashlight or candles.

We didn’t assemble the lights. We place them near windows that receive great sunlight throughout the day so they can fully charge then we just bring them in the bedroom at night. They’re great nightlights for the kids as well as emergency blackout lights. I bought another box (of 2) today to keep in the main area of the house.

Some other options you may want to consider:

1) A battery backup…the thing you plug your computer into…yeah…you can run a lamp with an energy efficient bulb...or perhaps a low watt fan.
2) If you want to run both, you can get yourself a car battery and an inverter….but you’ll also need a car battery charger. We were able to run a tv, playstation, and our vornado fan on this rig for a while.
3) If your house set up allows it, you could turn your car into a mini generator. Hook up the inverter to the car’s battery, run an extension cord into the house, turn on the car and viola! No need to recharge the battery….but you’ll still need to by gas.

What happened?

I am not who I want to be professionally. How did I become this subdued? When did I lose my assertiveness? How did my technical skills dissolve so much in such a short time? How is it that when I was younger and less experienced, I was more of who I wanted to be in the world of work?

Did it start when I was told that I was highly qualified for a certain position and produced the best writing sample of all the applicants but I was too young? Or was it when I walked into a well-established company to apply for a first line supervisory position and I was laughed at because I am a woman? Perhaps it is because I have been praised and belittled at the same time; I have been empowered and stifled simultaneously.

It is difficult to be trained in management, in the art of providing support to others, and not be able to fully exercise those skills. I recognize my short-lived educational career and my lack of worldliness, but I know what I'm capable of, I know who I can be, who I was, who I should be.

I suppose many things in my life are not where I want them to be. Note the self-centered nature of that statement.

(The difficulty with this blog is that I am unaware of who all reads it. But I needed to write this.)

Conversations with my kids

Jacob (after susu-ing): Done!
Me: Done?
Jacob (low and raspy): Yeeaah.
Me: Susu?
Jacob: No.
Me: Susu.
Jacob: No.
Me: Susu.
Jacob: No. Done.

Translation:

Jacob (after nursing): Done!
Me: Done?
Jacob (low and raspy): Yeeaah.
Me: Want to nurse some more?
Jacob: No.
Me: Nurse some more.
Jacob: No.
Me: Come on, nurse some more.
Jacob: No. Done.

~~~

Katelyn: I love you too Mom.
Me: I love you too Katelyn.

Hey! Don’t come around here no more.

Madame Butterfly, how I loathe thee. You are the bane of my gardening existence. No matter how beautiful your wings may be, you are nothing more than a bug. A bug that tortures me more and more each day. I don’t deposit my children in your garden, stop depositing yours in mine.

No, not powerless

Power outages are a part of who I am. I grew up with them – they were not as frequent as they are nowadays, but they were always a part of life on Saipan. I always felt a little bit special living in a place where there wasn’t regular power. I thought it was neat that we had to live out of a cooler for a week after being hit by a major typhoon. My father eventually hooked up a generator so during blackouts we would no longer be power-less, just with less power. Get it? Er…anyway. After my father died, we moved out of that creepy old government house and into our own house on my mother’s property. We never hooked up that generator again.

James and I have talked about getting a generator. We’re still talking. While I am often power-less and I sometimes feel powerless because of it, I am not mad. I get irked, I get irritated, I get hot, I get hungry (we have a gas stove, but we don’t open the fridge), I may even complain about it with you. But really? This is where we are; this is where God put us. Our kids are clothed, they’re safe, they’re fed, they’re happy. There are advocates out there, there are forums, there are those who are working to fix it. Fine, go ahead, I applaud you. But for now, my children will learn how to play Mission Impossible with flashlights just like I did;

they will learn not to fear the shapes that are distorted in the dark;

they will learn not be consumed by consumerism; they will learn about safety and how to care for one another; they will learn to adapt, to conserve, to be resourceful, to be patient, and to forgive.

I wish I had a Motorola Que, or a Blackberry, or an iPhone 3G...

but I already spent a small fortune on my just-as-kick-ass-in-its-own-right LG Chocolate. Therefore, I had to write this post down on an already crowded piece of paper and stick it in my ridiculously messy purse risking the possibility of never finding it again instead of simply posting it directly from my phone as I waited abandoned at Quick Print.

There really should only be two volume settings on my phone: really soft and really loud. Even though there are a total of 5 settings...I either miss my calls because the volume was in the medium range or I answer my calls because I can hear the phone ring from two miles away.

It's like the evaluation questions that ask you to rate something on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being the lowest score and 5 being the highest). It really doesn't matter what you answer, either you liked it or you didn't, either you can do it or you can't, either you miss the calls or you don't.

Wednesday What Is It?

What is it?

Here's how to play.

Wednesday What Is It? Results

The results of last week's Wednesday What Is It?

Q-Tips!

Also acceptable: cotton swabs (in the box or not)

5 points to Kirida!

2 points each to Boni, Tami, Bruce, Sheila

Thanks for the fun everyone!

Jiu Jitsu Jake

I have various terms of endearment for my children. With Jacob, I often call him Jiu Jitstu Jake, as he is able to pull off moves that the pros use. Honestly. The other day he did that move that that guy does....um yeah. He put me in an arm bar a week ago. It's not like I tapped...he's only 1!

But as of yesterday, I also call him Jacob the Dragon Slayer. Jacob stepped on and killed a baby gecko yesterday. And if you ask him about his dragon slaying adventure, he will gladly reenact the woeful event by kicking up his foot and stomping it on the ground saying, "step, step!" Then he'll touch a spot on the ground to show you that the kill was made under his "foot, foot!"

Now all I need is for him to turn into Jacob the Spider Squisher. Or rather, Jacob the Spider Squisher and Remover.

Shampoo and conditioner should be properly proportioned. Who’s with me?

I go through a whole bottle of conditioner in the time it takes to use up about ½ - ¾ of a bottle of shampoo, depending on the brand. Either shampoo should be watered down or conditioner should be concentrated. I considered the option of manufacturers bottling shampoo in smaller bottles and/or conditioner in bigger bottles, but the idea of looking at two unevenly sized bottles of complimentary shampoo and conditioner sitting on my bathtub irks me even more than the uneven rate of my shampoo vs. conditioner consumption.

Is there anyone else out there who shares in my same ridiculousness?

Wednesday What Is It?

What is it?

Here's how to play.

Wednesday What Is It? Results

The results of last week's Wednesday What Is It?

Contact Solution!

Also acceptable: saline solution, nalgene bottle

5 points to Erdene and Mark!
And Kirida!

2 points each to Boni and Sheila.

After a Google Images search for nalgene bottles much consideration, I decided to award both Mark and Erdene, and Kirida with 5 points.

Important questions

1. Have you ever noticed how "FYI" sounds so much nicer than "for your information"?
• FYI, I took out the trash since you came home late.
• For your information, since you came home late last night I took out the trash myself!
2. But why does "ASAP" sound just a bit ruder than "as soon as possible"?
• I need these forms filled out ASAP.
• Please turn them in as soon as possible.

Congratulations AJ!

Congratulations to AJ for winning my logo contest!

In the words of Kat Von D, "Do you love it?"

AJ is so cool, he even designed me a banner for this site. Thanks, man! Your shirt will be in the mail tomorrow. I promise.

A shower without water.

I attended a baby shower of sorts on Saturday. A bunch of us women got together and made scrap book pages for a friend who is about to give birth to her first child. It was very nice. It was also very stressful. While as much as I enjoy various forms of crafting, I cannot do the whole stamping-card making- scrap booking thing. For realz. I just can't.

There was much fidgeting, a lot of indecisiveness, many cries for help, several breaks to recollect myself, and nearly 3 hours later.....

Booya!

Note the stressed out hair.

( I put it together incorrectly. That picture holder thing in the photo below...the plastic holder with a pink border....it's upside down from how I planned it. Oh well, this was my first time scrapbooking.)

There is even space for the new mother to journal....

I was on a crafter's high. I don't think I've felt as giddy after finishing a scarf or a bag as I did when I finished these two pages. In fact, I was so much in my own little world of crafting amazement that I didn't give our mother-to-be a proper goodbye.

I wish you all the best Ger! You are in my prayers for a safe and speedy delivery.