Coincidence?

Or genius child?

Stuff that Bugs

I think it is all related to number 2 on this list but I promise to do a happy version of this tomorrow. But for now here are all the annoyances currently happening to me:

1. Internet is down in the apartment where we live. No one cares since they are doing some "project" before school gets in session so while our neighbors are able to successfully log on intermittently, we cannot at all. Thank goodness for my built-in verizon service which is mucho slow. And why I can't post a video I am dying to show you of little Megs.

2. I strained a muscle in my middle back--have you ever done that, where you just reach a certain way and BOOM your neck/back hurts for a couple of days? Well that happened to me this morning. After I JUST got a good routine going at the gym, too.

3. It took me six phone calls to get doctors appointments with my kids. And I had to practically beg the doc to see us. They are choosy these days and apparently our family doesn't meet their guidelines. I went in person and cried in the doctor's office as a last ditch effort and at least that worked.

4. While gone this summer we accrued a bunch of library fines and now I don't want to go back and get books but I really, really want to read the one I have on hold there.

5. No new sequels to look forward to anymore.

6. My parents are both dead. This is not a new annoyance, just an old injury flaring up again.

7. Katie's move to D.C. is officially painful now. We could pretend it was all fine while traveling, but I felt her absence yesterday and it was almost all that I could take. I ALMOST went out in my car during the last hour but it turned out to be a combined men/women so I could sit next to Steve who I like more than anyone in the world in spite of the fact that...

8. Steve is deaf in his right ear. It is reparable, but as it takes six calls to get an appointment at the doctor we obviously don't have the time to invest in that exercise so I have to play musical chairs in church to sit on the correct side to make my snarky comments.

9. The Kirby vacuum doesn't work that well these days. I should probably take it in to get fixed but I am loathe to spend a single dime considering what we paid to buy it. Also, the shampooer only comes out in a single little stream, not a robust one, and I haven't done the carpets yet.

10. My eldest child is going through a grumpy phase. Hopefully more sleep will alleviate some of that.

My Cube

EDIT: Some people thought this was weird. So it was this cool site where you could create a digital cube of your "personality" which is basically an image search of your favorite art and entertainment. This is what I put together.

Quiz #2 for the week: Can you identify what the six sides are supposed to be?

Here is the link so you don't have to hear that AMAZING song each time you come here. And she is not ugly.

Trivia

I went to a fan party for a certain book at a bookstore that hosted a trivia game and debate questions.  Here are my trivia questions for you with images that will serve as helpful hints:


1) Name the store:

  2)  Name the book:

3) One of the participants in my group (we were divided up into districts) is trying out for the part of one of the characters in the movie that is slated to start filming in February.  Name what character he is trying out for:

4)  Guess what the girl who works at the store is saying to me while I am trying to get photographic evidence of being with this kid (in the event he gets the part)

5) Do you think he should play that part?  Here are a few more professional photos so you can see what he would look like on the screen:

In case I get in trouble for putting these pics up over here I want to make sure and give credit to this website.  I put the pics here instead of forcing you to follow the link because I didn't want to encourage middle-aged women to look at young male models, especially cuz he was a sweet kid and his mom was super nice, and I wouldn't want to make anyone go over there or anything.  

Answer to trivia:

1)  Borders

2)  Mockingjay of course

3)  Gale 

4)  "Um excuse me, you aren't allowed to take photos in the store."
5)    Yes.  He was really a nice and humble kinda person.  His mom was like "he is trying out for the HG movie" and the girls in the room recognized his name, I think he was a star in the high school play when they did To Kill a Mockingbird.  But anytime his mom would start to say something he would act super embarrassed because he didn't seem to want the attention.  I mean, except for the modeling and acting and all.  But it seemed sincere so he gets my vote. 

On Not Getting Uglier

I saw this article today about Gen X women hitting a midlife crisis and as a gen-xer and 35 year old I wonder if it applies to me.

Except it doesn't. 

Because unlike many women, I didn't look better when I was younger. In fact, if I look back at my college photos I probably weigh around 25 lbs heavier--or more--back then.  After 4 kids and a mortgage, I do not feel in crisis mode.

I am not having a body image issue because I can probably fit into my wedding gown--that was altered to fit a thinner girl than me who borrowed it a year later.

Last week I was telling a story to a friend of mine about how on my mission in Spain a woman called on the phone and asked if I was "¿la gorda o la flaca?" and I knew that I was "la gorda" because my companion was super skinny.  I used it to illustrate how it was really good for my self-confidence to live in a culture that openly identifies your worst features and when my daughter Bridget uttered a sound of pity I laughed and told her that I learned a long time ago that my real skillset was not my beauty.  And then it dawned on me in that one moment--I really and truly don't care anymore that I don't rival my gorgeous college roomies.  Or that I will never be the kind of woman who turns heads when I walk into a room.

Because my happiness, my real joy comes from laughing at my own snarky comments, which honestly are really funny. Mostly.

Or from working with a teacher who starts crying out of relief because I have explained how to fit a square peg into a round hole and she finally understands how to do it.

Or from hearing my kids say "mom you are awesome" because I have taught them to say that to me.

So while there was a time in my life where being beautiful seemed to be the most important thing that would always elude me, my mind has finally brainwashed itself into believing that I am beautiful in a way that people have to know me to see.  And that makes me feel superior.

My gen X companions might be out seeking ways to seek their former hotness but I have decided to skip that phase and hang tight with the "comfortable in my skin" biz.

After I lose 10 pounds.

Obligatory Self-Promotion

So last year as you may recall, I gave you a sob story about getting the flu as a lousy excuse for my horrible orange creation during the Hunger Games Cake Decorating Contest.

This year let me give you a different excuse for voting for me:  I love my cake.  I think the craftsmanship is mediocre for reasons outlined below, but I had so much fun coming up with the idea and talking to my kids about it and teaching my husband about the book as I researched the different districts that I just was happy with the process of creation even if it didn't play out exactly as planned.

If you haven't read the book I highly doubt you would bother to keep reading this post because you will be running out to catch up with Hunger Games and Catching Fire prior to the release of Mockingjay at Midnight tonight but this year's contest is of course hosted by the one and only Jespy.  If you don't know about Jespy (known around here as jennyesp) than I feel sorry for you since she is truly a delightful person.  She has a great deadpan kind of humor and btw has kept me reading for the last year via both a blog and random texts, not to mention that we are super compatible on goodreads...and the rate at which she keeps up with iPhone games is one of the key reasons I miss that particular device.  She is kinda competitive, especially when her sisters get involved so keep your head down and don't make too many snarky comments if you are playing cards with them.

So back to me, the contest, I want you to know that I pulled into town at 4 pm yesterday, got my cake made, and was ready to move onto frosting when I realized I was out of both butter and powdered sugar.  Since I didn't have any untapped neighbors I decided to google search "frosting without powdered sugar" and sure enough I ran across a nice little Royal Icing that you can use for such occasions.  I had to boil sugar and cream of tartar until it hit 238 degrees F, whip up some egg whites to stiff peaks, and then mix the two concoctions together whipping constantly until cool.   A lot of work, eh?  But that is how dedicated I am to this contest.  And did I mention my kids started school this morning and we have been gone for 10 weeks?  So anyway the frosting didn't actually turn out to be stiff enough for detail hence my poor quality detail.  But it is shiny so that part worked out.

Down to biz.  Here is the cake.  Your job is to go to the site and vote... not even for my cake, just for the best one because honestly there are some really good ones.  But you have to give me SOME points for thinking it through, no?  I thought putting the numbers on there was kind of Captain Obvious/Oprahlike but I couldn't help but think there might be some who would be confused.

Need some help?

District 1?  They make luxury goods for the capital which is located there in the Rockies.
District 2?  Yeah those are the careers.  Training for the annual games because that is the way they roll.
District 3?  Explosives.  Want a close up?

District 4 is of course fishing.  Love my shiny lake?
Yeah so then you got Foxface showing her meano face in district 5
Factories/industrial district 8

Districts 9 is of course electricity
11 agriculture
10 livestock
and 13 we know is nuclear power.

SPOILER ALERT
District 12?
12?

It WAS the coal mining region but now....

There is no district 12.

Home Again

Before I fill you in on the details of the rager that was Steve's grandma's 90th, let me tell you about my dreamy return home after 10 weeks.

You know how you walk in the door after a long vacation and your house is sorta clean but not really?   And how you have no food in it?  And how it is the day before school but you have no snacks for them?  And how you have ants *because you live in family housing?  And how it is Sunday so you want to keep the sabbath but also eat so you have to eat rice and refried beans assuming you have some in the pantry?  Maybe some cereal with powdered milk (okay gross I would never do that but I hear some people do.)

Well my friends, let me tell you about my neighbor Clarice.  Her husband is from New Zealand and since we were out of town for the summer, his parents came and stayed in our apartment for a couple of weeks.  As "repayment" to us (since it had absolutely no negative affect on us whatsoever considering the apartment was just sitting here unused) we came home to the following:

1) A brand new refrigerator.  The sealing strip has been busted for four years but we just shut it twice every time, never bothering to report it--Clarice called right away and next thing you know, boom, new fridge.  And someone cleaned behind it which is even more magical and tragic.  Tragical.

2)  A clean house.  I know that I have an amazing husband and I mean this in no way to be offensive to him, but he was here without me when they left.   He packed and took the circus on the road with four kids by himself.  I KNOW that the house was not this clean when he left.  I just know.  All towels were folded and put under the bathroom sink, the floors were vacuumed and swept, and all sheets were clean.  Additionally, she cleaned off the bottom bunkbed and organized all items into a grocery bag.  The kids room was especially marvelous.

3)  This one is going to blow you away.  Ready?  A house full of food.  Picture walking in the door and seeing your kitchen table stocked with enough snacks for kids' lunches for two weeks.  Snacks galore.  Imagine opening your fridge and seeing it full to the brim with fresh fruits, cheese, eggs, milk, yogurt (organic!) and a variety of other goodies.  In the freezer?  Salmon and chicken.  Frozen gogurts for the kids--four boxes.  No lie people.

4)  A new vase and an envelope full of cash.  It is probably tacky to list the amount here but let's just say it is the equivalent of a week's worth of groceries for our family of 6 people.  Since they already provided us with two weeks worth of food, the extra cash seems, well, frankly amazing.

I have never done anything this generous for anyone and you can be sure that I am going to add this to the list of tricks that I would like to pull off at least once in my lifetime.  Isn't it awesome?  I just really am amazed that a woman with five kids of her own, a full blown time consuming job working for housing, and a husband working on a Ph.D took the time to do all of this for us.  If you know Clarice I supposed you are probably not surprised, but wow, awesome, no?

This is on the same day as I received some pretty special hospitality from a friend of mine, Vegas style.  I will share that story next but first I would like to collect a few stories from others--what is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

*Seriously, even if you don't live in FSH, I find that ants are a major pain but if you go with the Terro, you won't regret it.

Artistry

Last week in Utah.

Where I Been and What I Done Learned

I am becoming a Hoosier.  Indiana for 6 days last week, back to Utahr for 3 days, Indiana again until Friday.

What I have learned:

• Indiana is quite nice this time of year, lots of lakes in the north.
• I witnessed a School Board Member say an opening prayer during a rather inspiring district rollout of service including a United Way payroll deduction campaign.
• I met a very young, sharp-looking School Board President who took time off of his busy schedule to come and support the teachers in his district during training.
• I learned from a skilled individual that listening draws people out as much as good questioning--I had to practice my listening skills and wouldn't you know it, you have to practice it to get better.  I am going to work on that tomorrow, but seriously what is awesome about it is that you remain quiet for a time period and then say one really powerful thing.  I want to become the master of that.
• I found that when people are confused, they don't understand.  
• I remembered that I was born for this job--there is nothing that brings me the level of satisfaction that my work does.  Motherhood brings me tremendous joy, but also a knowledge that I am constantly failing.  In my work, the sense of accomplishment and success that I experience while in schools leaves me with a feeling of a sustainable, real change.  I know that even if the schools don't set out to accomplish their goals, the teachers and principals are never the same.  This is a lifestyle and we make people better.  
• I discovered that I really do want my iPhone back.
• I realized that I am a connoisseur of culture. Any little moment of curiosity and I find myself invigorated by a million questions. Why don't the Amish let you take pictures?  Isn't a wagon wheel advanced technology if you lived in another era?  What justifies the ownership of a cellphone but not a gas stove?  Why are the Amish bakeries so good?  Do they have running toilets?  
• I am addicted to books and will probably drive my family to the poorhouse as a direct result of teenage fiction.
• I wish you all were on foursquare.  Do it!
• I married just the right man, at the right time, in the right place, and there is nothing in this world that makes me happier than knowing that he loves me and still finds me an enjoyable companion.  I wish he could be with me on my Hoosier adventures.  And our little chilluns in the pool downstairs in the hotel.  

Hey kids, pose like a nice family

Like that statue behind you.

First Loves and Rocky Relationships

One of the downsides of living in a more transparent society is that the whole world gets to experience your snafus.

You buy some medication online from Canada and your email account takes a life of its own and starts inviting your friends to enhanced experiences.

You forget to inactivate an account from a year ago and suddenly your name is tweeting in German.

People can even experience poor wardrobe choices you made when you were 15 via social networking sites.

Most egregious, you can throw a party and forget to invite someone and they find out about it from someone you barely know through facebook.

It's a murky world out there... and yet.  That vulnerability makes us more compassionate.  You get an email from someone with questionable content and your first thought is to feel sorry for the sender having experienced a hijacked account yourself.

It is that empathy that I rely upon when I experiment with new technology myself--like my new HTC Incredible phone.

Before I start in on my own recent blunders, let me tell you, it lives up to the reputation of being able to rival the iPhone.  It is a smooth ride, with some nice little features that my generation iPhone didn't have.  I can hear you now Tiff, asking "like what??" so I will share with you:

1.  You can just touch the "phone" button (which is always in the center because, after all, it is a phone) and start spelling the name of whomever you would like to call. You can type in numbers if you know any, you can spell the first OR last name and it pulls it up for you.  Speedy.

2.  Say you go to a mission reunion and want to get someone's phone number? On the iPhone you had to create a new contact that always took forever--on the Android you can just put in the number and it magically asks you "add as contact?" which really speeds up the process.

3.  I can have widgets or apps open at any time--but I can also kill all the apps at once to save on my battery life.  The widgets are kind of "ready to roll" apps and I can do a bunch of stuff with each of those individual, customizable screens (you get 7) and you can save as many themes as you want. So say I organize my apps a certain way but want to experiment?  I can save that theme and then I can go back to it if I don't like the way I organized it.

4.  Tons of free ringtones.  This is my current one.  No pay, just free.

5.  The apps alert you when something is new at the top of your screen so you don't have to see the app to know if you have something going on--and it is accurate as opposed to the iPhone fake facebook notifications.

Having said that, there are a few things that are better about the iPhone:

1.  The alarm.  Last night after a VERY fun mission reunion, I got home and packed, was exhausted when I selected the 5 am alarm for an early flight to Indy.  I woke up with the sun, around 6ish, realizing that my alarm did not sound.  I have relied on my iPhone and it has not failed me for 1.5 years.  The droid makes the assumption that every human being sleeps in on Saturday and Sunday.  Honestly, maybe they are idealists, but whomever made the app is not Mormon.  We have places to be on Sunday mornings.  Like the airport.  I rescheduled for 5 pm and it was actually a blessing because I went to church with my family and really enjoyed it. Only downside is that I won't hit my hotel until 3 am tomorrow morning.

2.  Text messaging not nearly as good.  Downloaded an app to make it nicer but now I get two notifications--one in the built-in app and one in the new app.  Annoying.

3.  Apparently the droid mms pictures not sending to iPhones.  My cute pics not being received, must address this issue asap.

4.  Droid users are less of a club.  I see people with an iPhone and I feel like last year's prom queen--I promise I understand, I promise!! But telling someone "I used to have an iPhone" is not the same as just making eye contact, looking at your phone, and smiling smugly.  You can't even tell who is in the droid club :(

5.  Pictures and video uploading more than meets the eye.  This is much nicer on the iPhone.  I have to go to my FB account to clean up the fact that I posted two of each picture.  Also, note, yesterday I posted a picture of a skater.  How did this happen?  I think I must have accidentally selected it, but why is this a stock photo on the droid?  Who wants this pic as their default?  Is that guy someone famous?  Is this someone's way of testing the lameness of new droid users and someone is tracking the number of times this shows up online on some blog mocking us all?

So in summary, the iPhone will always be my first love.  And yes, I am having a rocky relationship with the Droid but we have a promising future together.  Plus my company has benefitted from this and sometimes the happiness of others creates a super happiness in me.

Mockers, remember your own vulnerability and next time you make a blunder I will be there to support you too.

Meg in Still Life

The video I sent to Blogger didn't show so you'll have to settle for this pic.

Meg on

Film

Another Brick in the Wall

I know that a lot of you might think I am crazy about school reform, but I am not. When you spend all day on a particular topic and you read article after article after book after website after tweets and memes, of course you are going to sound crazy.  This is how I know I am not crazy:  I work with an incredible group of intelligent people who think exactly the same way about education that I do.  We could all go to the same school at different times in different rooms and come out with the same assessment--that is in fact what we do.

For those who do think I am insane, or at least read too much, it would not surprise you to hear that my husband said today "you don't even know what you are looking for."  I am sure there are those who would agree since most of my jabber sounds alll the same anyway.

I am pleased to say that I could articulate what I was looking for--but I think what he was really trying to ask me about is how I would know if I found it.

To answer his question because I know you are all so excited to hear my answer, I look for key words.  I don't care how they are put together or the meaning of the sentences, I look for buzz words, particularly for words that are subtly trying to buck the system.  Here is an example of a school that is NOT trying to buck the system:

BLANK school assists parents in their stewardship of developing the hearts and minds of children by creating a safe and nurturing environment of classical education that fosters patriotism, cultural literacy, moral virtue, individuality, self government, and excellence, thereby, inspiring a lifelong love of learning, leadership and service.


Those are words that mean something specifically to me as a reformer-though I love the idea of "lifelong" learning, it has become such a buzz phrase that unless it is with something provocative, my eyes tend to glaze over.  When I see patriotism and cultural literacy accompanied by moral virtue, I know they mean the canon, not multicultural literacy that we have anxiously been trying to embrace for years.

So here is an edgy, exciting mission statement to me:


The BLANK community will take responsibility for the well-being and growth of our students and staff. We will promote the qualities of explorers by encouraging knowledge, strength, persistence, diligence, imagination, resilience, courage, and enough faith in ourselves to take risks.

What do I like about this?  I love the word strength, persistence, and risk.  I love the idea of courage and resilience (read- you must fail and then bounce back).  I see those words and I hear that inside of that school they refused to pay homage to the "lifelong learning" and use words that kids might actually like--explorers and imagination.  I know that if a school like that lives up to its mission statement, my kids are going to be doing something cool.

I am going to explore this place tomorrow and see what I can discover about their fidelity to their own mission.

What words do you love about the mission statement at your kids school?

Interesting

After being gone from our place over 6 weeks now, I am feeling restless.  Not living in a place permanently means that you have no real responsibilities.

 If I were at home I would be...

• Down at the kids school wondering why I have to shell out $10/piece for new uniform shirts (3 shirt minimum x $10 x 3 kids= $90) for a semester of school.
• Preparing for a talk on Sunday on who knows what.  Maybe a lesson too.. uh oh brb
• Cleaning my kitchen because without a dishwasher it takes way longer (this has proved itself here over and over again)
• Running across the street to do laundry because I can't just pop it in the washer/dryer like I can here (again, this is a time consuming endeavor and technically I have two options here inside the house)
• Putting away something or other.
• Grocery shopping instead of heading to in-laws pantry which is, as always, more robust than imaginable.  

Here, nada.  I just work a lot.  And spend time learning my droid, holla!

So I am hopping on the friend bandwagon tomorrow, see you soon!

Utah friends, finally coming out of my insane travel to visit IRL people.