The TRsACTQZPshphspht Meeting

Acronyms.  I bet a handful just popped into your mind as you read that.  BBQ.  FYI.  PBJ.  A personal favorite TGIF.

Then there are the more recent ones from this age of texting:  BRB   ADAD  B4  LOL  ROFL  LMBO  ad nauseam.

Want to see more?
Acronyms  and Text Acronyms - new favorite on this list:  AYV - Are you vertical?

In the world of education/academia, there's this:

I am sure that other fields also have their own list, but I have found the plethora of acronyms in education to be mind-numbing.  I have attended several meetings recently, both 'in house' and those put on by the state agencies, and let me just say, there are more letters flying around than a Seseme Street episode.  

At one of these meetings in a rare glimpse of candid openness, I joked with my Chair about how I felt (and still secretly do) when I first started this job part-time over a year ago.  I would sit in meetings and feel a bit like: 

Particularly :11, :30 and :44.

Case in point - we have three different committees/councils/groups that are affiliated with our department.  They ALL begin with T.  They have something to do with education.  They are different conglomerate configurations of the following letters:  T  E  M  A  C  S

Don't ask me what they all stand for.  I still  don't really know.  (This is my professional life at present - constant state of confusion.)  My Chair is particularly fond of acronyms, as some are prone to be, and throws them around like confetti.  Finally I got so frustrated trying to keep straight on what meeting was what, that I started writing this into my calendars when meetings were coming up:

TEcDPQuZ412Xa;skjfoiejoi meeting 3:30 p.m.

I figured I would just show up and after a few minutes, finally figure out what the hang fire it was all about.  I have chuckled to myself that one of these days, I am going to walk into one of said meetings and ask, 'Is this the TuPac meeting?' and bust out into song (or rather, rap).  Something tells me my particular collegial group would a) have no idea who TuPac was, and/or b) NOT be amused.  

So I am linking up to Stasha's Monday's Listicles over at the good life to state that I am ANTI-acronym.  I think people either need to chill on the alphabet spewing, or for crying out loud, give people a cheat sheet or translator to follow along.  

Meanwhile, I think that the next time I am in one of those nine inner sanctums of dante's inferno five-hour meetings where ABCs are rattled more than a preschooler singing her LMNOPs, I am going to get up and dance and sing this around the room:

Run Dry

It has been a week since I posted.  I have resorted to posting the Monday Listicles and that is about it.  I missed a Fridge Poetry Friday.  Again.

The song "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia seems to be on repeat in my head, for I can relate to these words:

My inspiration has run dry
That's what's goin' on
Nothing's right
I'm torn


Here's the song, if you too, are running on E:



It is a rainy Sunday, and spring has been bullied into hiding by the grips of a winter that no one wants around anymore but insists on staying.  Winter, here's the door.  Don't let the door hitcha where the good Lord splitcha.  

I had a post all ready to go about the unusual comment that was left one of my recent links to Monday Listicles, and have second-guessed myself on going through with it.  It is a fairly funny post...  I just question whether I am stooping to make such a big deal of it (devoting a whole post to it and all).  That sums up my current state of writing - not producing anything much of substance, and then questioning what I do have put together that I could actually put up here.  

One big writing (if this is even writing) conundrum. 

Oh - did I make you curious about the odd comment and then leave you hanging?  In a nutshell,  for a recent Listicles post, I wrote this - Unwritten for the list of 10 chapters we might include if we were to write a book about ourselves.  For the final chapter, I included a picture from a recent, very blissful weekend outing of myself outside on the deck of a restaurant overlooking the Chattahoochee River.  A gal participating in the link-up left a very unusual comment, sort of mixed up and random, and then she inquired about an 'ostrich neck'...  Oh heck, either click the link above and roll halfway down to see for yourself, or here.  Here is her comment:

I could smell and dare I say taste that jar of paste. And I do had the Dorothy Hamill do. Though I came home and CRIED my eyes out. Where did that ostrich neck come from?
Good luck on your next chapter.

Not amused.

Should I post it?  Or not?  That is the question.

Ultimately, I deduced that she was possibly commenting after a few glasses of vino, in fact, making reference to my neck, accentuated in the shadows on my picture in 'Unwritten' that possibly does look a little droopy, or ostrich-like.

But who actually SAYS that kind of thing, especially to a complete stranger?  

It brought to mind things that my mother, deeply schooled in common sense and courtesy, taught me about human nature:  folks who are generally unhappy with themselves in some way, will tend to be the ones to scrutinize and attempt to tear down another.

Ultimately, I decided that, on another day, she and I could probably be 'buds', as we have similar interests, and we're Southern gals.  She is probably very likable.  We would very likely have much to discuss, and could possibly solve the world's ills.  Nonetheless.

Moving on.

I thought that since I have lost any sense of wordsmithery, I would do one of my collection posts, a collage of sorts, of my recent activity.  (cue crickets) 

There's really not much to report.  

I have gotten up, gone to work, come home, work some more,  gone to several doctors' visits.  Rinse. repeat.  Attended umpteen meetings (I am of the belief that hell will be one long, continuous meeting.)  Read textbooks and articles and made PowerPoints.  Graded papers.

Huh.  So THAT'S where my inspiration went.  

I did promise to post a pic or two from my daughter's senior prom:

No, they didn't drive in this vehicle.  It is parked at our friends' house where we did pictures.  They have this glorious house right on the Soque River.  

This is the epitome of my baby girl...

Love this shot of them 'dancing' on the river bank.              

This was from their Senior Walk, a tradition where parents can come to the dance to take pictures of their seniors being announced.   Boyfriend was quite sauve - they got up on stage as they were announced and he spun her, dipped her and planted a smooch.  Very cute.  That drew many 'oooooohs' and cheers from the crowd.  Here is the post of my son's Senior Walk - BEST MOMENT EVER.

Now I have two Best Moments Ever.

Finally, I am dog-sitting for my parents.  They are currently out in Big Sky, Montana on their retirement trip.  Here is Gibbs:

As in:

 

Gibbs from NCIS.  Mom is a huge fan.  

The dog Gibbs, is seven pounds when wet, and the biggest snuggler I have ever come across.  It has been a bit of a challenge trying to keep the two dogs apart because Maggie doesn't like to share and would probably eat him for a snack, but as he snores happily by my side, all is well.

I love quotes.  Found this one today:

'Physical attractions are common, but a mental connection is rare. Once you’ve had the latter, the former will never be enough again.'

So that's it.  I am still having a heckuva time posting pictures on here (frustrating!) so if they all seem askew, that is why.  I'm off to grade more papers.  Because that's what I do.

30 Minutes or Less

This week's Monday Listicles over at the good life is Top Ten Ways to Spend 30 Minutes.  I only have about 30 minutes before I plan to turn in so I better make this quick.  I have a post in the works to respond to something from last week's Listicle, but am still re-working that one.  So for now, what to do with 30 minutes, and I am imposing my own 'rule' that it can not involve wasting time on any sort of technology unless listening to music accompanies the 30 minute activity.

So what to do with 30 minutes to make life just a little better?

1.  If it is nice weather, go outside and stretch out to watch clouds or stare at the stars.

2.  Find someone willing to brush your hair. 

www.healthyhaircentral.com

3.  Do absolutely, gloriously, deliciously nothing.

4.  Write a poem - free verse.  Paper and pen.  

By the way, I hope to have a poetry segment upcoming to commemorate National Poetry Month .  I will keep you alerted!  

5.  Drift in a hammock (Of course!)

uncrate.com

Isn't this heavenly?

6.  Pray - can't go wrong there.

7.  Do stretches - oh so good for the bod!

8.  Do one task (easy/simple) that you can get off your plate and make you feel productive - empty the dishwasher, clear out the junk mail and file away the important ones, etc.

9.  Listen to music and do nothing else but close your eyes and just listen.

10. Take a walk and combine with #9...well, except you might not want to close your eyes with this one.  

Fridge Poetry Friday

To Get a Number

(Why does my number say 'Daniel'?  We swap.  It's what we do (and arent' supposed to do) to run with family and friends.  That name has GREAT significance.  For another story, another time.)

A week or so ago I received my notification that I was selected for this year's Peachtree Road Race once again.  There is just something about 'getting in' to a race, no matter what it is, or when you sign up and anticipate race day.  For most that do this crazy thing called 'running' (and I use that term loosely for myself - the serious would probably laugh at my interpretation of 'run'), there is just something about it.

And this from a gal who never really considered herself even remotely a 'runner' ...

until I had that 'waking up' moment several years ago, and I ate that juicy peach and I ran, really ran, with all this new power and energy for the first time on that beach back then.

Then Monday.  Boston.  A finish line.  The moment that is usually filled with such utter euphoria mixed with sweat and 'feel good' endorphins and all that makes crossing that line worth it was reeking of chemical and smoke, fear and palpable disbelief.  

A blast shattered through the collective vibe of that moment to attempt to take down the human spirit.

Then yesterday's tragedy...

explosions...

                                 loss....

                                                          grief.....
        
               fire......

                                                                              smothering heartbreak.....

For an empath like me (this is yet another post), these events ...events?  (The definition could probably uphold the meaning of this word, but it evokes a more celebratory happening for me.  NOTHING about this was a joyous occasion)  level me.  What are the words for such as this?  It seems they cannot be found within any human discourse - not an ounce of acts such as these ring with humanity.  None.

Yet, in the midst, hope rises.  People reach out.  They give - of their hearts, their prayers, their tears, their hands.

For me, I have to edge my toes to the very line of the horror - I don't know why but it is in my make up to 'feel' and to 'be there' in these moments, to work through it in anguish and anger and despair, so that determination and perseverance can surface.  I have to be at the finish line, feel the sweat and the heat from my own body breathe out, and then hear the blast, feel it in my bones, and the painful ringing in my ears.  This was true on consecutive nights after 9/11, waking as if I had stopped breathing, feeling as though I was being smothered by unseen, smoldering rubble.

I may crumple in complete distress of soul for the ones who witnessed the face of evil, and the ones that felt the metal pierce.  For the ones that were, one second cheering and searching the faces for their loved one to cross that line, and the next, left maimed - in a split second.

Then, I take all that I 'feel' in those moments and funnel them into dogged determination.

So I run.

I ran the other day and got caught in a torrential rainstorm.  I turned my face upward, felt the water on my lips and shouted - THESE are the moments I welcome in my life.

I ran yesterday.  Nonstop.  For the ones that never made it to the finish line.  I WILL run the 26.2 if it takes me a month, for those.  For all of them.  For all of us.  Evil WILL NOT prevail over good.

Unwritten

  

Stasha over at the good life has selected her friend Terri's topic for this week's Listicles: 10 CHAPTERS IN A BOOK ABOUT ME.

So my post is entitled 'Unwritten'.  I have not written that actual book yet, nor any book for that matter. Yet the pages of my life are brimming - we all have a story.  It is up to us to tell it.

So here are the working titles to 10 Chapters of My Life if I were to pen an autobiography:

1.  Wild Wild West - this would include my birth in Wyoming and the anecdotes of my earliest days:  head bobbing to any number of tunes spinning on the stereo placed right beside my playpen, my mother lifting me up to the ground level window many mornings to say 'good morning to the earth and world', and my cross-country travels in the floorboard of a pale yellow VW bug.

2.  Talking Through the Screen Door - I was of the generation of children that were, by and large, sent out after breakfast to play, come back in for lunch and a nap, back out and then back in for dinner, therefore spending the majority of my childhood outside.  I can recall sitting on the little brick steps in my carport, talking to my Mom through the screen door - probably asking for a drink of water or if lunch was soon.  My early childhood years brought forth a host of imagination (creating 'forts' in the yard, watching bugs and other nature up close, and gliding from a tire swing dangling from the tallest pine).  I entertained myself, simple as that.


3.  The Elmer's Paste Years-this would summarize my elementary school years.  Not that I sniffed glue, or ate it, but for some weird reason, I can evoke the scent of this school supply from memory, and suddenly I am seven, wearing a goldenrod yellow turtleneck and matching Toughskins with my Dorothy Hamill short do walking to my elementary school across the street.  I really should insert a picture here, but then I'd have to call my Mom, and hours later, this post would not be done.

4.  Under Lock and Key- If I could dig through about 287 boxes, I might be able to locate my diaries from the later elementary years through middle school.  THAT should be interesting!

5.  From All I've Ever Known - this would be the chapter that would start with my last day in my childhood town, pulling away on that bright November day, moving during my tenth grade year.  I thought my heart was going to implode.  This chapter would include the last few years of high school.

6.  On Eagle's Wings - my college years, early married life, new Mama.

7.  Where Even Shadows Do Not Reach - off course there is always a chapter of struggle - depression, battle of body image/weight, identification of my son's exceptionality, losing jobs and moving in with the in-laws.

8.  The SUV Shuttle Years - I can say that I successfully avoided succumbing to the 'minivan'.  No offense to anyone that has one.  I just never wanted one and managed to scuttle my children hither and yon sans the 'van'.  This chapter would likely be a blur, as many of you might relate to the dual-income, raising children years.  Mine would include a move and some career advancement, and lots and lots of sideline cheering in the rain.

9.  Waking to the Taste of an Ice-Cold Peach - Long title.  Probably needs adjustment.  Certainly needs some explanation but this chapter would depict the moment I seemed to 'wake up' in all sense of the word, and begin a life of wide-eyed wonder and adventure.  Not adventure every day, of course, but definitely a change of path that leads to fullness of life.

10.  She Smiles at the Future - There is still so much yet left to write, and I can not shake the feeling that the next part will be quite the story.

Alphabet Soup Junk Drawer of My Mind Update

In the rare moments lately that I can check in here and see what is going on, ABCs are flying around like blocks in a preschool room full of tantrums.  So great to see the A-Z going strong - hang in there!  You're nearly at the halfway mark!

So I thought that before I jumped into some other posts, I would do a Junk Drawer update, A-Z style, using the letters of the alphabet for inspiration.  I might skip letters.  I can do that.  My blog, my rules.
A - Amazing Moments

Can you add to the list?

B - Bob Seger

Interesting story - 79-year-old Evie Branan woke up from a 5-year coma and requested to go to a Bob Seger concert.  You can read about it here - Woman requests Bob Seger concert after 5-year coma.

So here's to surviving comas with a little Bob Seger himself -

C- Convertible weather is here.

D - Dog Assistant

Girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.  I have finally decided that I have to find a way to manage so much paperwork and computer work.  I have hired and trained my assistant.  She is hardworking and 

cheap.  

E-End It

I participated in the End-It Movement on April 9, 2013, bringing awareness to the plight of modern slavery in the form of human trafficking.  One way to do this was to mark a red X on your hand to indicate your participation and to evoke questions.

F-Fridge Poetry

It is National Poetry Month.  I adore poetry, as it is probably my deepest passion for words at its more pure and raw form.  I haven't entirely given up my Fridge Poetry, I just haven't been consistent as the days/ weeks have been full.  However, I always love it when people take advantage of my fridge covered in words.  This one was left on our door, and I do not know who created it.  It is beautiful nonetheless.

Mystery Fridge Poetry

Speaking of poetry, I have something special in mind to honor this month of poetry appreciation.  Be on the look-out.  It might just possibly involve videoing myself reading poetry for you good folks.

G- Girls' Night Out

Yeeeeeeah!  This evening I will be picking up a friend that I haven't seen in quite a while.  We both expressed our missing of each other via Facebook and we set a day/time.  We're making it happen.  She desperately needs someone to talk to and I can relate.  We're taking off just out of town, away from the locals in hopes of securing a corner booth where we can catch up as long as we need to.

H - Happy in a Heartbeat

On the girls' retreat last weekend, I got another of those special prayer journals I have mentioned before.  I am actually too lazy at the moment to go look for the other post but these are very special journals, and I came to receive this one under interesting circumstances.  Those that worked the weekend weren't getting them this time - but I did.  The front of this one is quite interesting in the things that 'speak' to me at the moment.  Particularly the idea of 'happiness in a heartbeat'.  Very very cool.

I - need to get ready very soon to leave so I may speed this up and skip some letters...

J

K

L - lace in spring

                                            

                                            

gorgeous blooming trees

M-meteor showers

So do you schedule meteor showers into your calendars/iphones/daytimers?  You too?

                                                    

                                            

N- No more sitting!!!

I am just about DONE with all the sitting involved in what I do.  I stand in class, and move around quite a bit while there, but the majority of the rest of my job requires sitting to grade, read, be on the computer.  Tragic!

                                 

O - Only three and a half weeks of actual class and four weeks until the end of the semester...yeeehaw!

P - Prom is tomorrow.  Senior year.  Baby girl is attending with Boyfriend.  She has the most elegant dress.  Pictures forthcoming.

Q - skipping!

R - ditto!

S - Seeing this EVERYWHERE!

Car decal on the back of a student car.

T - The Space Between

Perfect song to hear as I got in my car the other day and drove alongside the most amazing sunset I have seen in a while.

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

Skipping!  Off to have some girl time!  Have a wonderful weekend!  I hope to check in some time tomorrow and catch up on your lovely blogs.

Returned and Restored

I have returned from the weekend retreat, having spent the whole weekend with a bunch of teen girls and teens at heart - up late (or is it technically early if Friday we were up until after 2:30 a.m?), cleaned more showers and potties than a housekeeper at the Venetian in Vegas, and hugged more precious souls than Juan Mann (if you want to know about his campaign, have a looksee here: Free Hugs Campaign. )

And I am refreshed.  Restored.  Rejuvenated.  

That's the uncanny economy of God.  Give to receive.  Pour out to be filled.  Let go to be returned.

Well, that - and possibly my nutty rendition of 'Hold On' by Wilson Philips with my gal pals from the 80's era - high ponytail, sunglasses, Chuck Taylors, singing into a hairbrush.  Cheese factor cranked up to max decibels.  Good times, folks.

Grab a hairbrush.  Come on, girls.  Sing it!

So I do have stories to tell.  I will.  Grading beckons (the countdown in minutes to end of semester has begun...) so I will share three lovely moments from today:

Two simple pleasures of spring:

1)  Seeing little people on the playground at an elementary school and remembering how GLORIOUS recess feels on the first official warm day of spring.

2)  Top-down-shoes-off-sun-bright-songs-good commute home.

3) New artist discoveries...heard this gem this afternoon.  Will work on scribing the lyrics because they are golden.  See what I did there?


Sunshine.  Beautiful sunshine.

Another by him...calls his girl 'Supergirl' in this one...oh my heart.

Over and Out

I will be away (not that this absence is any different from my long lags in posting these days...) this weekend.  I will be sequestered for two glorious nights and three days in a gorgeous mountaintop chalet  - no internet, no phones, no grading.  Fully equipped 'get-away' with hot tub on the deck, brass pole and ample trees for privacy.....

Brass pole?  I just HAD to promote one of my blog friend's post about her little get-away.  Read it here - wait...here -> Susannah's Nyquil Induced Banter.

Actually, none of the above is really true.  Well, some of it.  I will be away.  I will be on a hill, of sorts. I won't have access to internet or phone (sketchy cell service where I'm going).  I won't be grading (hallelujah!!!).  There will be no hot tub and certainly no brass pole (too funny, Susannh!).

There WILL BE, however, a lot of girlie girls.  Probably very little sleep.  Bunk beds.  Enough hair to make blankets for a small, cold nation of people, and possibly some weepiness.  It's all good!

I get the privilege to serve on a retreat weekend with my daughter for girls ages 15-21.  I can't wait!

Over and out.

Random Songs

I feel like I need to cheer on my A-Z peeps.  The alphabet is rolling in and I am on the sidelines both relieved that I am not having to post daily but wishing I was right there in the mix.  So GOOOOO ABCers!!!!

A song for you:





To continue the kissy-kissy theme:

Every word...

I LOVE Joshua Radin.  End.of.story.

Kiss on My List

After a serious post, I feel compelled to bring some lighthearted fare in for balance.  On Saturday, I had crafted (now in drafts) a rather lengthy post about reasons for recent weepiness...and decided it was just too much.  There was one humorous component to it, and I may tell it, as well as the others, in smaller posts later, breaking them up a bit to stand on their own.  So it was either my 'Snot Such a Good Idea' post or a Listicle about kissing.  Smooching won out.  Who doesn't like a little sugar after all?

Actually, I guess there are some that don't.  Sad, sad.

This week's Monday Listicle over at the good life is

 10 Best Places You've Been Kissed.

My face:

Then I cracked out the 80's cheese and this song popped into my head - 

Nothing says 'come give me some smooch' like that 'stash.

I am going to do a kissing mashup, a collage of osculation, per se.  Pucker up!

1.  I have actually written about kisses -   So I will share them again.  Here go -

This Just Got Juicy

Cloud Kisses

2.  Top Kissing Scene from a movie:  Okay, there could be a host of these.  A more well-known one?  The rain scene in "The Notebook".  How about this little known film, My Blueberry Nights starring none other than Norah Jones?  Check out the last scene.  Yep. 

3.  Want to know about kissing in different cultures?  This is a short snippet of a read -Kissing in Different Cultures.

4.  'Ven dame un beso' = 'Come give me a kiss' in Spanish.

5.  Best verse from the Bible about kissing: "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine." Song of Solomon 1:1

6.  Oh Alfred, Lord Tennyson...

A man had given all other bliss,
And all his worldly worth for this,
To waste his whole heart in one kiss
Upon her perfect lips.
~Alfred, Lord Tennyson

7.  Top 5 kisses:  1) On the forehead, 2) the sloooooow move in, 3) the urgent, fevered kiss given in surprise, 4) neck kisses, 5) upside down kisses (think Spiderman and My Blueberry Nights).

8.  Best place for stealing kisses on babies - back of the neck in that little hollow place.

9.  Most annoying thing about kissing - the SOUNDS that are made on movies that are SOOOOO exaggerated...nobody makes all that smackity smack noise when smooching!  Seriously?

10.  Location I have yet to be kissed but would like to be one day - out in the desert under an amazing display of constellations.

Finally, (yes, this is more than 10) a song: