Now THAT is one stagnant year

Last year I wrote this. I was having a good day in the middle of a bunch of a few really angry posts. The gist of last year is this-I hated my job, I wanted to lose weight, I was thinking about going back to school to become either a lawyer or a teacher, and I enjoyed my time away from work. This year, it appears everything is the same. Let's work on some goals for next year.

1) Like what you do whether it be your current job, a new job, or school.

2) Get your credit cards paid off.

3) Weigh less than 140 pounds.

4) Be engaged or married without being pregnant.

5) Have at least one decent show under your belt this year.

I will revisit this in a year and see how things are going. Hey, Me-Good luck!

How to be a parent By: a non parent

Ultimately, parents have only so much control over what decisions their children will grow to make. I, as previously stated, think my mother did an excellent job raising me. I have friends who were brought up with parents that allowed them to do things as children that my mom still wouldn't let me do. But most of us have grown up to be functional adults regardless of our upbringing.

I think that the key is to instill the values in your children that you want them to have. For example, the only real rule for me was no lying. Guess what? I don't lie and if I do it is usually by accident and I feel the need to go back to the person that I "lied" to and correct myself, apologize, or fess up. Also, I hate liars and cheaters. To me, the most disrespectful thing a person can do is look me in the eye and tell me something that isn't true. How do you think I am going to raise my kids? No lying.

I think it is important to remember that children are their own people with their own personalities. They will screw up, they will question what you teach them, and they will make decisions that you don't agree with. Chances are, they'll be alright. Don't judge them and don't say "I told you so". Just be there for them. When they realize that they screwed up and you were right, they will either come to you for comfort or they will not feel comfortable talking to you about it. It's your choice.

Me, now

Well, here I am, blogging. I am currently multi-tasking. I just finished half watching the presidential address and now I am watching a re-run of House. I just ate left over Pizzeria Uno. I intend to eat a peanut butter brownie sundae soon. I will watch the mentalist then go to bed. I am doing all of this while laying on the matress on the floor of the livingroom.

Who inspires me?

I'm going to be a bit cliche here......it's my mom.

The woman is amazing. She brought up two smart, polite, fun, sensible, strong girls in a less than ideal situation. She learned from her mistakes and was relatively successful in getting me to learn from them, too. She taught me to be independent, to be able to support myself, and to stand up for myself. She gave up a lot for us and I can't tell her how much I appreciate everything that she did. She had little for herself but was able to send me to music school, get me voice lessons at Eastman, and send my sister to Germany.

I can only hope that I am as good of a mother to my kids as my mom was to me. She was great at having fun with us but we knew when we messed up. That look. Ohhhhh, that look. Never lie was the only rule and I couldn't follow it. Seriously. "Amanda, did you eat your sister's birthday cake"? "no". Or, "Amanda, what happened at school today"? "nothing". or "Amanda, did you do this"? "what? Oh....no". Every time, I got caught....and she didn't kill me. I just got grounded. Time and time again I would lie and she never screamed "you stupid idiot just tell the truth and you won't get in trouble you moron"! She just grounded me. Oh! The patience that that woman has.

I know for a fact that I don't have her patience right now. I assume it comes with motherhood. I assume you become more patient as your kid cries for hours on end, plays peek-a-boo a million times but doesn't get tired, and has tempertantrums and "no" is the only word they know. I guess a stupid teenager who can't learn that one rule not to lie isn't a total loss if they get good grades, stay away from drugs, and have well rounded interests. She has reason to be proud of my sister and I, we are pretty good kids. I am amazed that she didn't loose her mind in the process of making us who we are today. She did a great job and I hope I do as well when I have my chance.

Dinner Party

The question posed to me was, "If you were hosting a dinner party and could invite 5 celebrities or people of note, who would you invite, and what would be on the menu? And what do you think the conversation would go like?"

I would like to get a chance to pick the brain of many notable people. Mozart, Einstein, and Newton for example, are people that I would love to learn from. Aristotle, Descartes, and Jesus Christ I would love to listen to, but I think I might go crazy if I were encouraged to think more than I do. Led Zeppelin-I would have loved to be a part of their music, so much talent!

I think I would like to hear more about our forefathers views on the changing interpretations of the constitution and the roll of government. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and FDR would be my guests. I had a really hard time cutting Teddy Roosevelt....you know what, he can have my seat, I'll just stand by the wall and watch.

So here's the setting. We are in an old colonial building traditionally decorated and with a portrait of each of them on the wall (so that they all understand that they are each a big deal). There is beer and brandy for drinks and Paula Dean is our cook but she remains hidden and silent. We begin with a reading of the most recent State of the Union address (even if we didn't call it a State of the Union address). And the show begins.....

I wouldn't know what to expect exactly, but I am sure that there's plenty of shouting and some pushing and shoving, but nobody leaves. These men were all so passionate about their country and what they did for it, I would like nothing more than to hear their views on the way we have reshaped and reinterpreted their words. I want to know what they would say to the presidents who were forced to make difficult decisions in difficult times. Would they understand how we got here, or would they think that these great men made the wrong choices? They certainly expected that things would change, but would they disapprove of where we have taken the country?

I wouldn't need to participate in the conversation. I just want to listen and enjoy some of Paula Dean's delicious looking food.

For the birds

KT,

I have met you on a few occasions, but I just read your blog and realized that we have a lot in common.

1) Your post on who would play with you in a movie-Lauren Graham. The "monkey monkey underpants" clip is uncannily similar to my stream of consciousness existence. Also, I love the Gilmore Girls.

2) You can be a science teacher now and I want to someday.

3) We both love food and talk about it too much.

4) I think I grew up next door to the "burnin up" kid.

5) I didn't think Mandy Patinkin was loved by others my age.

My question to you...

Who is your best friend and what is the best memory that you have with them?

bloggity blog blog

Do you ever get a word stuck in your head? I never did until a girl I went to high school with told me that she gets the word "parenthetical" in her head. Now, I get the word parenthetical in my head.