Q of the Week : How do you record your kids' lives?
Q of the Week : What's the longest you've been away from your kid(s)?
D goes to camp this week. Wednesday morning to be exact, and I don’t think it really started hitting me until about two days ago. When I started getting his checklist of gear together, realized I didn’t have some of it, and started actually thinking about what was going to happen in just a few days. How I’m going to miss him, despite the freedom of only having one kid at home. How his banter will be missed, and, yes, even some of the blither. His brother is going to be lost without him too. They’ve become such incredibly good friends since I started homeschooling that they’re inseparable, unless D wants to get lost in a book, or build some very fragile creation of course.
Three and a half weeks is a long time.
Q of the Week : You know it's summer when ...
With the weekend sighting of my first firefly, and the proliferation of wet towels and boys around here, I think summer has arrived. With it come many things, and my question this week is simple … what signals summertime the most to you?
The first few things that come to mind for me:
Q of the Week : Last time you really laughed?
Q of the Week : How's your laundry situation?
I just added a contest at the bottom, don’t miss it!
I hate folding laundry. Hate it. I don’t mind running the loads through, though I’m pretty haphazard and fast about it all. My husband will be glad to tell you I suck at really getting things clean, and it’s true that I overload the machine just to do fewer loads, and everything gets washed hot and rinsed cold. Except the handwashing, which gets done about every 6 months. Michael wished he had his special hand-decorated dress shirt clean to wear to a party on Friday, but alas it’s been waiting to be hand washed since it’s inaugural wearing many months ago.
Q of the Week : What's your personality type?
I had a great weekend. Away from home and boys and peed-upon-toilet seats, in green hills with great friends, it was bliss. I’ll recap it elsewhere to keep this Question short, but it involved a long whitewater rafting trip which I thoroughly enjoyed and am still aching from. The funny thing was at least 4 of the 6 of us in the boat were Type A personalities, a lovely combination when shouting paddling instructions in the middle of a set of rapids!
If you’re not familiar with the A/B/C/D method of categorizing folks, the details are here, and I’ve included brief summaries below, courtesy of M.Farouk Radwan, MSc. It’s a very general way of looking at things, but fun and sometimes handy if you end up clashing with a friend. We got along well this weekend though, despite ourselves!
Q of the Week : Any Interesting Encounters with Strangers Lately?
In the comments to my Friday Roundup (in which I refer to the subject of failing to feel lovely, among other tidbits and links) my friend Karin commented that she finds it a good antidote, when feeling unlovely, to do something nice for someone else “… even if it’s just flashing a brilliant smile and a sincere thank you to the coffee guy who looks more miserable than you - their startled and pleased smile could be just the thing you need!” It stuck with me, and when casting about for a Question today (the 186th one so yes it gets hard some days!) I remembered a not-so-nice encounter on the subway last week, and here we are.
So what interesting or meaningful or simply memorable encounters have you had with strangers lately? Glances, conversation, helpfulness, kindness, nastiness … what’s your story? I’ve had a few that stick out, and I’ll get the nasty one out of the way first.
Q of the Week : Monday Meme!
Q of the Week : Any dietary restrictions in your family?
Q of the Week : How Do You Respond to Compliments?
Q of the Week : Where's your favorite place to relax?
Q of the Week : What are your Dreads and Delights this week?
Q of the Week : (Manic) Meme Monday
Quick one here, it’s almost noon and I don’t have much time before the boys clamor for lunch. Yes, I’m running behind (go figure!) so a quick post on my end means you can answer in 5 words. I’ll make it a wee bit more interesting by telling you why I’m asking these questions.
Ready?
Go!
1. Favorite flower? … because Fynn spent his entire cello lesson this morning staring out the window at the magnolia tree which is about to burst into full bloom
2. Last time you ate chocolate? … I had my frequent late-night snack last night of a tiny dish of peanut butter, with a dab of butter, a drip of honey, and a not-so-tiny sprinkling of chocolate chips on top. mmmm.
3. Mood right now? … mine changes so fast it’s not funny, and I’m struggling with crabby frustration but want to let it go.
4. What hurts? … I tripped and fell while running yesterday, scraping up my hands and knees pretty well. Fared better than Darah though, who fell off her bike last night and lost some teeth, broke her jaw, fractured her skull, and more! Please send some healing thoughts/prayers her way. Ouch!
5. Word for today? … I just picked one, because I need it. It’s RELAX.
Thanks for playing!
Q of the Week : What have you gotten rid of lately?
I made the boys do a toy purge last Friday. It’s simply that time again, and not just because it’s spring (Yes!). I was actually amazed at how many things they were willing to toss, and the bag is sitting by the door to be put out on the curb. They’re pretty pleased with their newfound space in the toybins, and it’s all good.
For myself, I sorted and pitched some old client folders, making some breathing room in my filing cabinet again. Do I really need every single logo sketch for an old (and impossibly difficult) client who never ended up paying me what he owed? I think not! The funny thing was, in tossing the stack, I finally felt liberated from the irritation that I still harbored against him.
Q of the Week : How Fevered is Your Spring?
Q of the Week : What are your favorite family games?
It’s been a gut-wrenching few days, hasn’t it? With the news from Japan continuing to get worse, it’s hard to balance reactions to it all with daily life here. I mused on that subject here on the weekend, and don’t have any more words to share on it yet other than love, prayers, and thoughts going out to all those affected. It’s hard not to feel guilty for being healthy and safe here though.
The question this week is a light one, and something that our boys are getting more and more interested in. What games do you play together? We tend towards board games, as they’re what we all enjoy. The only game system we have is the Playstation, and it’s not something we can all play together, nor am I particularly into Lego StarWars tricks and techniques! We’re not all frisbee or sports fans, so our outdoor play tends a lot more towards building stuff together, or the occasional random ball/stick battle in the back yard.
Q of the Week : How are you taking care of yourself these days?
This issue is an old one, but so central to the premise of SaneMoms that it’s worth revisiting. It was brought to mind again by a comment on Christina’s Inside and Out post.
And sometimes I find you even have to defend those moments when you are doing something for yourself, right? My husband lately realized that I was steadily making my way through a series of books and some nasty comments came out about how lucky I was to have time to sit and read during the day while he’s at work and late home every night this week… My response that one of us had to stay sane competely stumped him. I had to fight off my own guilt too about being able to sit quietly for an hour each day, but seriously, if I don’t take care of myself and we BOTH lose it, what good does that do?