English 101

Today is going to be an odds-and-ends kind of post, so I apologize in advance if it’s less than coherent.

 

First, thanks for all your recommendations on memoirs.  I’m looking forward to plowing through them with my handy-dandy library card.  Have I mentioned how much I love the library these days?  Just in case you’d forgotten, it’s FREE!!  I love free!!

 

Second, I finished another great book called Belong To Me, by Marisa de los Santos.  I guess this would be classified as chick lit, but if that gives you a bad taste in your mouth let’s just call it fiction.  It’s a hefty book about a girl and her husband who move to the ‘burbs and all the people they encounter there.  It is very intelligently written, the characters are interesting, and I liked it.  Not too heavy, but definitely not fluff.

 

I also read The Great Gatsby.  I think I’ve mentioned that I’m trying to go back and read all the books I skipped/skimmed in high school.  I still had my original copy sitting on my shelf, with a dog ear right in the middle, meaning I must’ve stopped there and never finished.  I distinctly remember failing a quiz in Ms. McCann’s 11th grade English Class about the symbolism of colors in this book.  It was a matching quiz, with a whole list of colors down one side and the meanings on the other.  So as I read it this time I tried to imagine what those meanings could be.  Can I just say I’ve never been one to see alot of deep stuff in books.  I read it for what it is.  I’d probably still fail the quiz, but it’d be fun to take just for grins.    Anyway, have you read The Great Gatsby??  It was a very fast read (which again begs the question: Why couldn’t I get through this in high school?) and has quite a twisty little fourth quarter.  I liked it.

 

Somebody commented recently asking how I have time to read.  Well, I have a deal with Abigail.  I’ll read aloud for about 20 minutes and then we have quiet reading time until she’s ready to go to sleep.  So that usually buys me 20-30 minutes of personal reading.  And then I’m geared up to finish the chapter I’m on, so once she goes to sleep I jump in my bed and keep reading.  It’s my TV lately.  Also I take a book when I go to her activites, and spend about half an hour reading there.  I lead a very exciting life…

 

Finally, I’ve added some pages to my blog.  You’ll find them listed at the top of my home page or you can click on the links here.  First is my Reading List 2008; just what it says.  Second is a list of book recommendations for girls.  Abigail and I are having a great time reading this year, and I thought it deserved it’s own list.   So enjoy, and feel free to email me/comment with your own recommendations. 

 

One last thing:  I updated my Miley post from Monday, so check it out below.

 

Happy Reading!!

 

Can you spare a square?

I’m only a brand-snob about a couple of things:  Grandma’s Molasses, Green Giant Kitchen-Sliced Green Beans, Tampax Tampons (oh, wait, too much information, right?)…

 

There are other things that I buy whatever is the best deal that day.   Bread, cheese,  milk, canned tomatoes, and toilet paper all fall into this category.  The only problem is, every once in a while I mess up and get something that totally fails me.  Such is my experience this week. 

 

You know how it is on that darn toilet paper aisle.  There are too many choices.  And the math is just ridiculously complicated.  We have soft, ultra soft, and ultra strong.  (Why do I have to choose between soft and strong…we’ve landed a man on the moon, can’t it be both?)  Each of these is available in a big roll (big meaning small), a giant roll (16 giant rolls =40 big rolls…what?) and a MEGA roll (too big to actually fit on the toilet paper holder and still turn.)  Then you have the whole ply issue – one ply, two ply, three ply, quilted ply, my oh my.  And THEN you have to factor in the sale price.  It’s just toilet paper overload. 

 

So the last time I was at Tar-jhay I decided to be supermom and turn the toilet paper aisle experience into a math lesson for my daughter.  (That was my fatal mistake; who am I kidding, I’m NOT supermom!)  After much time spent in careful calculations, she chose a pack with 32 big rolls.  And what we got was 32 rolls of toilet paper that give a maximum of four wipes each.  Now I’m not going to lie; I don’t like to skimp on the tp.  (And I certainly don’t want my daughter to skimp!)  I think a good handful does the job.  And each of these “BIG” rolls has about 4 handfuls, 6 tops.  That’s it.  We’re changing the roll so often I’ve quit putting the new one on the holder.  Why bother?  It’s only going to be there for half a day and then we’re on to a new one.  PAIN IN MY NECK!!

 

Now I realize that there are many more important things in life than my toilet paper frustration, but today I leave you with what I consider to be one of the most hilarious scenes in the recent history of American comedy:

ELAINE

what a dope!

uh..excuse me

umm.. I’m sorry

this is.. this is kind of embarrassing but.. there’s no toilet paper over here

JANE

(from the stall on Elaine’s right)

are you talking to me?

ELAINE

yeah.. I

I just forgot to check

so if you could just spare me some

JANE

no I’m sorry

ELAINE

what?

JANE

no I’m sorry, I can’t spare it

ELAINE

you can’t spare it??

JANE

no there’s not enough to spare

ELAINE

well I don’t need much, just 3 squares will do it

JANE

I’m sorry I don’t have a square to spare, now if you don’t mind

ELAINE

3 squares? you can’t spare 3 squares??

JANE

no I don’t have a square to spare, I can’t spare a square

ELAINE

oh is it two-ply? cause it it’s two-ply I’ll take one ply, one ply, one, one

puny little ply, I’ll take one measly ply

JANE

look, I don’t have a square and I don’t have a ply (flushing and leaving)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Miley, Miley, Miley (tsk, tsk, tsk)

Have you seen this picture?

 

Yes, friends, that’s our sweet Hannah Montana looking all sexified for Vanity Fair magazine.  I have to admit that I’m torn.  Annie Leibowitz took the photo, and I don’t think it’s too terribly trashy, but on the other hand she looks really young and that creeps me out.  Then there’s the mom issue:  is this the girl (this barely-dressed girl in the picture) the one that I want my daughter trying to emulate?  No, I’m much more about Hannah Montana, the so-clean-you-could-eat-off-her girl on the Disney Channel.  But is it WRONG for Miley to have taken these pictures?  Eh, I’m probably more liberal than that.  Like I said, I’m torn. 

 

What do you think??? 

 

BTW, you can read the whole article here http://www.vanityfair.com/ontheweb/blogs/daily/2008/04/miley-knows-bes.html

 

UPDATE:  After reading your comments and thinking on this for the last couple of days I’m no longer torn.  I don’t think she should’ve done it.  But she definitely provided an interesting conversation for me and Ab:

Ab (looking over my shoulder at a headline on the computer):  Mom, what does that say about Miley Cyrus?

Me:  Well, Miley took some pictures for a magazine that were not appropriate.

Ab:  What kind of pictures?  Why were they bad?

Me:  They took a picture of her back.  And when you’re Miley’s age that means she had to take her bra off to get the picture taken.  So that’s not okay.

Ab:  She took her bra off??  That means that her chests were hanging out and when she turned around to get the second picture taken she didn’t have any clothes on!  (Note the assumption that she turned around!)

Me:  Thankfully she didn’t turn around, but you’re right, the picture is suggestive.  And that’s why it’s wrong.  She should have told them she didn’t want to take the picture, but instead she let them convince her that it would be okay.  It’s very sad.  And there are lots of very sad parents because now we can’t trust Miley. 

As Hannah Montana says, Nobody’s Perfect, but I won’t be lovin’ on Miley for little while.   

Texas History

Good Morning Class. 

 

Today is Fiesta Day in San Antonio.  Now, before moving here I had never heard of Fiesta, but around these parts, it’s a big ol’ deal.  It’s even a school holiday!!  So what is Fiesta?  I thought you’d never ask.

 

Fiesta is a 10 day celebration in April that commemorates our loss at the Alamo as well as the victory at the Battle of San Jacinto.  (For those of you non-Texans, that’s when we won our indepedence from Mexico.)  There are over 100 events associated with Fiesta, including a marathon, daytime and nighttime parades, fairs, and on and on.  It’s basically Mardi Gras, but there’s no king cake, beads, doubloons, or boobs (so I’ve heard.)

 

Unfortunately the weather’s supposed to be terrible today (hail and everything) so I’m sure most of today’s events will be rained out.  Bummer.  I for one am headed to Wal-mart for some essentials and then a day of house-cleaning…that’s a Fiesta all on it’s own, no?

 

Well, that’s your Texas History lesson for today.  Quiz tomorrow!!

Maternal Pride

Warning:  The diet coke you are drinking may spew from your nose while reading this story. 

 Our daughter has recently been going through the testing for the Gifted and Talented program at her school.  The whole “gifted and talented” thing is a subject that sort of rubs me the wrong way, but I’ll save that for another blog on another day.  Anyhoo, last week she had the second of two days of testing.  So I get this text from my neighbor whose daughter is also doing the testing:

 Neighbor:  I have to tell u about the gt testing…did ab tell u what she drew on the creativity part w 2 parallel lines?

 (Right there, I’m very afraid.  I haven’t gotten a call from the teacher, but I can think of a few things based on 2 parallel lines that might be very inappropriate.)

 Me:  NO…I’m scared!

 Neighbor:   A margarita!

 Yes, you read right.  My third grader drew a margarita on her gifted and talented test.  How do you like that for creativity?  Apparently my neighbor found out because the teacher walked by and said “Oh, a margarita!” and laughed.  So of course my neighbor’s daughter goes home and tells her mom.  Abigail didn’t think a thing about it.  I asked her about it later, and she drew it for me. 

 It was in a tall, straight glass (hence the 2 parallel lines), on the rocks, with salt.  (That’s actually her daddy’s margarita…mine is frozen with sangria, no salt, but I digress.)  And a straw.  Can’t forget the straw.  And underneath she had written “a margarita drink”…because what kid in South Texas doesn’t know how to correctly spell “margarita”…it’s on a big neon sign at every Mexican restaurant in town!!

 My husband and I have made a conscious choice that we want Abigail to see responsible adults drinking responsibly.  This is not how either of us were raised, so we still have our doubts, especially when a MARGARITA shows up on a creativity test at school!   But we’re sticking with it.  Until she writes the definition for jigger on some creative writing test.  Then we’ll have to draw the line.

English 101 – Memoirs

So I told you a couple of weeks ago how much I enjoyed the Julie Andrews memoir.  Last week I read another one:  ‘Tis by Frank McCourt.  It’s the story of a guy who came to NYC from Ireland in the late ’40’s.  I loved it.  So now I’ve decided that the memoir is my new favorite genre.

 

What memoirs have you read and enjoyed? 

I’M BACK!!!

And I’m SO glad.  So, so, so glad.  Now for the serious stuff:

 

I’m not a very patient person.  In fact, I’d go so flat out admit that I’m decidedly IMpatient (and I don’t admit much.)  I think it’s gotten worse as I’ve grown older, which might have to do with working in the operating room for so many years.  You just don’t want anyone to have to wait for anything when there’s a little person lying on the table.  So you learn to do things very fast.  And you expect others to do the same.  I even walk fast.  It’s sort of ridiculous.

 

Anyway, this weekend we went to Houston to see the HITS production of Peter Pan at Miller Outdoor Theatre.  For those of you who aren’t Houstonites, Miller is a huge amphitheater at Hermann Park (which is sort of like our Central Park…zoo, train, museums, etc.)  Every year, HITS Theater puts on the opening show of the season for two weekends.  So for the last 10 years I’ve been in those shows.  These have been some of the most phenomenal experiences of my life.  When I started doing it I was in the chorus of Annie Get Your Gun, and by the last few years I was singing lead roles. (The beautiful picture of me at the bottom is when I was one of the ugly stepsisters in Cinderella last year…my husband was VERY proud.)  Part of the magic for me is the environment.  Even though HITS is technically “community” theatre, this production is entirely professional.  They bring in beautiful sets, incredible costumes, there are union stagehands, a professional orchestra…it’s a truly unbelievable experience for an actress.  And then there’s the audience.  On a nice evening, there can be literally thousands of people sitting on the hill watching the show.  And that’s on top of the thousand or so that are sitting in the seats up front.  So, like I said, it’s AMAZING.

 

At this point, you may be wondering what this has to do with my impatience.  Well, this is the first year in a LONG time that I haven’t done the show.  And I’m going to be honest:  it hurt.  It started with a knot in my stomach at about 5:30 on the day of the show when I normally would’ve been headed to the theater to start getting ready.  And the sadness stayed with me throughout the evening.  Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled for my friends who performed and I was utterly proud of their performances, but I was VERY jealous.  I’ve been waiting for 8 months now for God to show me that I’m going to get to do theater in San Antonio.  That I still have amazing performances in MY future.  And I’m still waiting.  And it’s hard.

 

The theater scene isn’t the same here; the theaters aren’t the same, the shows aren’t the same, it’s just NOT THE SAME.  And I liked it in Houston, so of course I want it to be…wait for it… THE SAME!  I want to be going to rehearsals, memorizing lines, even dealing with backstage drama.  NOT waiting around for something to finally happen. 

 

But that’s not where God has me right now.  Right now He has me waiting.  And like I said, I’m impatient.

 

 

Withdrawal

I’m in withdrawal.

 

Our hard drive is dead.  Well, pretty dead.  We took it to a specialist to see if they could retrieve our files, and their attempts were unsuccessful.  So now it has to go to another specialist.   We’re praying for a miracle. 

 

Now we have an external hard drive and the majority of our files are saved there, but I haven’t backed up since Christmas, when I received $50 in itunes money.  I just spent the last of it, so that’s 50 bucks worth of music that I’ve potentially lost.  It’s on my ipod, but probably gone other than that.  And then there are the pictures.  Who was it that thought digital pictures stored on the hard drive was a good idea??

 

Anyhoo, I’ve been without my computer since our power went out during the night Monday night.  I was able to post my blog on Tuesday by going to the local public library and sitting next to two teenagers who were ogling some girl on myspace.  (There’s our tax dollars hard at work, but I digress.) Thankfully I had already done the writing; I don’t think I could’ve put much together with that distraction.  And now I’m sitting at my husband’s office using his laptop.  It’s pretty pathetic, but I just HAD to get on the computer!!

 

Like I said, I’m in withdrawal.  I’m a little shaky, and definitely grumpy. 

 

My name is Katy, and I’m an internet addict.

This May Offend…

I am a true Southern girl, which means my daddy taught me good manners.  And that means that it sort of pains me to say the following…

 

I have a farting flip flop. 

 

Only the left one.  The right one doesn’t make any noise, but the left one sounds like it had the Plato Combinacion Numero Quatro at Casa Ole last night.  It’s very embarassing. 

 

Now granted I only paid $2.00 for said flip flops (which means the offending one only cost me a buck) but they’re cute!  They’re the perfect shade of blue and old school, which I love.  I don’t want sequins or a wedge heel or the wrong kind of plastic that gives me blisters.  Just give me plain old flip flops, one pair in each color of the rainbow, and I’m happy. 

 

 But they can’t fart.  That’s just wrong!

 

So I have a choice.  Do I trash them?  Do I give them to Goodwill so some other sweet lady will have to deal with the noise?  Do I put them away and get them out another day and try it again?  Or do I wear them and then hum everywhere I go so that the ppfffttting isn’t audible? 

 

These are the decisions that bring me to my knees. 

French Toast

 

This morning I made French Toast.  It is one of my dad’s specialties, and lately my youngin’ has been asking for it alot.  (My dad is an amazing, amazing cook; brought on by the fact that he was born and raised in New Orleans.  Also, he has chosen the name Pappadeaux as his “grandpa” name for the same reaons.)

So we’re standing at the stove making the french toast, and we have a little conversation that I thought might make you smile this Monday morning. 

Mom, I bet Tricia (best friend across the street) never has french toast.  Because she doesn’t have a Pappadeaux.

Well, she has a grandfather, and perhaps they make french toast, I don’t know.

Yes, but he’s not Pappadeaux.  There’s probably only one Pappadeaux for every million kids.

Do you mean one grandfather named Pappadeaux, or one grandfather as cool as Pappadeaux?

As cool as him.  He’s the coolest grandfather in the whole world.  And there’s only one of him.

(Smile.)  You’re right, Abigail, you are a very lucky girl to have your very own Pappadeaux.

Those of you who know my dad know that Abigail has hit it right on the money with this one.  He’s the bomb-diggity, and definitely one in a million.  Have a great day, dad!!