Last week we were on vacation. After spending a few days at Myrtle Beach and getting some rest we drove 12 hours to Nashville to spend a day with our grandson, Ronan. We made arrangements with his parents for him to stay home that day and my husband and I spent the day with him. Since we live several states away from our grandson and his parents it is quite special when we are able to see him and spend some time with him.
So the day began with Ronan staying in his play room, not exactly the scenario we had planned. After we lured him out he started to relax and we had fun. First he wanted to watch Thomas and Friends. Thank goodness for On Demand on Xfinity. We found the right channel and then started the marathon of his favorite train.
After a short while, he is only 2 so his attention span is pretty limited, he started wandering into the kitchen. This is how the kitchen forays went,
Me: Ronan what are you doing in there?
Ronan: Nothing
Me: Ronan I hear you opening the refrigerator door. What are you doing?
Ronan: Nothing
I learned quickly to go to the kitchen with him. Then the negotiating began. We discussed how many juice boxes he could have. We negotiated Halos (little mandarin oranges). We discussed summer sausage (you can have that when your mommy gets home). Finally we negotiated drinks (no more juice boxes, drink water). All this went on to the background of endless Thomas and Friends on television. (It's amazing on that show that no one gets angry, they get "cross").
At the end of the day my husband and I were exhausted but the entire day was "priceless." We spent an entire day with our grandson and had a wonderful time. I'm sure he will not remember it as he gets older but we will and hope to build on that experience with new ones as time goes on.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Unconnected and Hating (maybe Loving) It!
Last Saturday night my husband and I went to a hockey game (Miami University Redhawks vs University of North Dakota - Miami won!). As we were getting everything in the car and taking off I thought I had put my cell phone in my purse. When we stopped for gas about an hour away I realized that my phone was not in my purse. I had left my phone on the counter in the kitchen. When I realized I did not have my phone there was no time to go back, we had an event before the game and wanted to make it for warm ups for the team.
As I was driving the last hour to Oxford Ohio I was thinking what would I do with no phone? Usually during the game I am sending and answering texts, both from our son and some of our players who lived with us. Then I am checking hockey scores at other schools and keeping up on the news. I was not sure how the evening would go when I realized I was unconnected. Of course my husband had his phone so we were not totally without communication but it's not the same as having my own.
The game was great. Miami played really well and soundly beat North Dakota (6 - 3!). I had a fabulous time talking to other parents and friends of ours at the game. With no phone to play with I had to focus on the moment and what was happening there at the game, rather than multi-tasking as I usually do.
As we arrived home later that night I realized that I did not miss having my phone. Yes I had to "catch up" on how my other kids did in their college games but the information was there for me to check. I had spent the entire night in the moment of where I was and not splitting myself between all my interests. Being totally in the moment at that hockey game was an exhausting experience, I felt as if I had played the game rather than just sat in the stands and watched.
I don't know if I will do this regularly, I really don't like not having my phone with me. Yet I may more often put it away in my purse and just be in the moment I am experiencing, it was wonderful!
As I was driving the last hour to Oxford Ohio I was thinking what would I do with no phone? Usually during the game I am sending and answering texts, both from our son and some of our players who lived with us. Then I am checking hockey scores at other schools and keeping up on the news. I was not sure how the evening would go when I realized I was unconnected. Of course my husband had his phone so we were not totally without communication but it's not the same as having my own.
The game was great. Miami played really well and soundly beat North Dakota (6 - 3!). I had a fabulous time talking to other parents and friends of ours at the game. With no phone to play with I had to focus on the moment and what was happening there at the game, rather than multi-tasking as I usually do.
As we arrived home later that night I realized that I did not miss having my phone. Yes I had to "catch up" on how my other kids did in their college games but the information was there for me to check. I had spent the entire night in the moment of where I was and not splitting myself between all my interests. Being totally in the moment at that hockey game was an exhausting experience, I felt as if I had played the game rather than just sat in the stands and watched.
I don't know if I will do this regularly, I really don't like not having my phone with me. Yet I may more often put it away in my purse and just be in the moment I am experiencing, it was wonderful!
Monday, March 2, 2015
Yarn Crawl 2015 - Part 1
Last Saturday (before the March 1 snow storm here in Central Indiana) I spent the day in the company of a group of women doing the yarn crawl (www.rovingindiana.com). This is an event put together by a group of independent yarn stores around Central Indiana. We loaded up a van with six women and visited stores in Martinsville, Bloomington, Nashville, and Columbus, Indiana.
The women I spent the day with are all accomplished knitters and crocheters. I am a crocheter and an knitter wanna be. I was in awe of their skill level and ability to look at a finished knitting project and know they could duplicate it. My mother, who was also an accomplished knitter, tried to teach me to knit many times but it just never took for me. I tried and tried but would quit because I did not see any progress. I did learn to crochet and can handle most intermediate patterns but knitting is just a mystery to me.
One friend in the group described them as "yarn snobs" After spending the day admiring and touching some amazing yarns I understand what she is saying now. Nothing is more exquisite than a mixture of baby alpaca, silk and a few other fibers to make something so soft and touchable I would be afraid to even try working with it.
The other part of the day was spending it in the company of a group of women. This group is established as friends and I was just the "newby." they made me feel welcome and I realized women everywhere enjoy the same things - talking about family and friends, talking about current projects they are working on, and finding the best place to eat! We had as much fun eating as we did visiting the yarn shops.
Part 2 of the Yarn Crawl will bring the addition of my sister in law, who will be visiting that weekend. We are going to shops in other small towns, north of Indianapolis this time. I'm excited about what we will see, experience and eat on this next leg of the journey. I also got some great yarn for a few projects of my own.
The women I spent the day with are all accomplished knitters and crocheters. I am a crocheter and an knitter wanna be. I was in awe of their skill level and ability to look at a finished knitting project and know they could duplicate it. My mother, who was also an accomplished knitter, tried to teach me to knit many times but it just never took for me. I tried and tried but would quit because I did not see any progress. I did learn to crochet and can handle most intermediate patterns but knitting is just a mystery to me.
One friend in the group described them as "yarn snobs" After spending the day admiring and touching some amazing yarns I understand what she is saying now. Nothing is more exquisite than a mixture of baby alpaca, silk and a few other fibers to make something so soft and touchable I would be afraid to even try working with it.
The other part of the day was spending it in the company of a group of women. This group is established as friends and I was just the "newby." they made me feel welcome and I realized women everywhere enjoy the same things - talking about family and friends, talking about current projects they are working on, and finding the best place to eat! We had as much fun eating as we did visiting the yarn shops.
Part 2 of the Yarn Crawl will bring the addition of my sister in law, who will be visiting that weekend. We are going to shops in other small towns, north of Indianapolis this time. I'm excited about what we will see, experience and eat on this next leg of the journey. I also got some great yarn for a few projects of my own.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Losing Weight in a Digital Age
In January my husband and I decided to join Weight Watchers. Both of us needed to lose weight and become more active. So we both joined and I downloaded the app to our smart phones. In the past it has seemed that when my husband and I work on dieting or eating better I am doing the work for both of us. I'm not that good at losing weight and doing it for two people is virtually impossible!
With the Weight Watchers app we can both track what we eat and know how many points we have consumed for the day. I can scan food packages and even put in a recipe and it will calculate the points per serving. My husband can track his own food and I am not trying to figure out what to eat for both of us.
Since I was working on being more active I also researched and purchased a Garmin Vivofit activity tracker. Now I know how many steps I have done at any point in the day and how many more I need to reach my goal. The best/worst thing is the little red line that appears at the top of my tracker screen telling me I have been inactive for too long. Yikes better get up and start moving again.
The Garmin VivoFit and my Weight Watchers app talk to each other telling each other how active I have been each day. Probably at some time in the future I will begin to get text messages or phone calls saying "Hey lazy, get off your butt and start moving! You have calories to burn!"
To be honest it has been surprisingly easy to follow the plan, count points and make sure I am moving more. Of course in the 4 weeks we have been doing this my husband has lost 25 pounds to my 10. We will see which one of us reaches our end goal weight first.
Time to get up and start moving again. That little red line on my VivoFit is getting longer!
With the Weight Watchers app we can both track what we eat and know how many points we have consumed for the day. I can scan food packages and even put in a recipe and it will calculate the points per serving. My husband can track his own food and I am not trying to figure out what to eat for both of us.
Since I was working on being more active I also researched and purchased a Garmin Vivofit activity tracker. Now I know how many steps I have done at any point in the day and how many more I need to reach my goal. The best/worst thing is the little red line that appears at the top of my tracker screen telling me I have been inactive for too long. Yikes better get up and start moving again.
The Garmin VivoFit and my Weight Watchers app talk to each other telling each other how active I have been each day. Probably at some time in the future I will begin to get text messages or phone calls saying "Hey lazy, get off your butt and start moving! You have calories to burn!"
To be honest it has been surprisingly easy to follow the plan, count points and make sure I am moving more. Of course in the 4 weeks we have been doing this my husband has lost 25 pounds to my 10. We will see which one of us reaches our end goal weight first.
Time to get up and start moving again. That little red line on my VivoFit is getting longer!
Friday, February 20, 2015
Hey Siberia! You can have your air back!
So here we are over halfway through February. This has not been a bad winter compared to last winter here in Indiana (over 3 feet of snow last winter) or the winter they are having in the northwest states (over 9 feet of snow). But the last few days have been brutal here in Indiana. We are in the midst of a change in the jet stream bringing Siberian air to the Midwest.
Yes, I know there are people who live in Siberia and I applaud them. They are much tougher than I am. As the temperature has dipped below zero for the last few nights I have just not been much of a trouper about it. (Think - whine, whine, whine). My dogs have been miserable when we go out. Sadie our beagle (who now believes she is a diva since the beagle won Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Club) comes in limping after each foray out into the cold. Allie (the Princess) just looks at me like "really, do we have to do this again?" It's not been a pleasant time all around.
Starting today it is supposed to warm up but we will be getting either more snow or possibly a "wintry mix" based on the path of the "juicy" weather that is coming our way. Weather that has snow, ice and cold attached is not "juicy" in my opinion, it is just nasty.
The wonderful thing is that we are halfway through February. Spring is only a few weeks away and warmer weather is approaching. I have my seeds for the garden and the tomatoes and peppers are going under the grow lights this week.
Pretty soon Siberia will have their air back and we will be on our way to warmer weather. That suits me just fine.
Yes, I know there are people who live in Siberia and I applaud them. They are much tougher than I am. As the temperature has dipped below zero for the last few nights I have just not been much of a trouper about it. (Think - whine, whine, whine). My dogs have been miserable when we go out. Sadie our beagle (who now believes she is a diva since the beagle won Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Club) comes in limping after each foray out into the cold. Allie (the Princess) just looks at me like "really, do we have to do this again?" It's not been a pleasant time all around.
Starting today it is supposed to warm up but we will be getting either more snow or possibly a "wintry mix" based on the path of the "juicy" weather that is coming our way. Weather that has snow, ice and cold attached is not "juicy" in my opinion, it is just nasty.
The wonderful thing is that we are halfway through February. Spring is only a few weeks away and warmer weather is approaching. I have my seeds for the garden and the tomatoes and peppers are going under the grow lights this week.
Pretty soon Siberia will have their air back and we will be on our way to warmer weather. That suits me just fine.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Mansplaining and the Grammys
Mansplain - (Of a man) explain (something) to someone, typically a woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing: (www.oxforddictionary.com)
So this week I am getting in touch with my feminist side and talking about the 2015 Grammy Awards. My husband and I watched a portion of the show (until I got bored and went to bed) and got to see the moment when Beck was awarded the album of the year. Kanye West in his typical, rude, condesending manner went to walk on stage when Beck was accepting his award. Yet this time, (unlike when he interrupted Taylor Swift receiving the same award in 2009) he walked away before totally interruping the moment for Beck.
It's interesting to me that research is showing that women are interrupted and their voices drowned out by men in business and social situations. This happens often to the point that female voices become silenced and their ideas are lost. So Kanye, being the chauvinist that he is, felt totally comfortable interrupting the award speech for a post adolescent female (Taylor Swift) but was unwilling to interrupt a man (Beck) as he was accepting his award this year.
As a woman I have experienced being interrupted (many times) in business and social situations by men. I have also experienced having the floor and being "talked over" by a man in meetings and social gatherings. Usually I just give up and allow myself to be silenced. That is my issue to deal with and resolve.
Yet as a watching audience we have now seen a great example of how a woman can be interrupted in a defining moment in her career yet a man will not have the same experience (even though he was trashed on social media by Kanye later).
So this week I am getting in touch with my feminist side and talking about the 2015 Grammy Awards. My husband and I watched a portion of the show (until I got bored and went to bed) and got to see the moment when Beck was awarded the album of the year. Kanye West in his typical, rude, condesending manner went to walk on stage when Beck was accepting his award. Yet this time, (unlike when he interrupted Taylor Swift receiving the same award in 2009) he walked away before totally interruping the moment for Beck.
It's interesting to me that research is showing that women are interrupted and their voices drowned out by men in business and social situations. This happens often to the point that female voices become silenced and their ideas are lost. So Kanye, being the chauvinist that he is, felt totally comfortable interrupting the award speech for a post adolescent female (Taylor Swift) but was unwilling to interrupt a man (Beck) as he was accepting his award this year.
As a woman I have experienced being interrupted (many times) in business and social situations by men. I have also experienced having the floor and being "talked over" by a man in meetings and social gatherings. Usually I just give up and allow myself to be silenced. That is my issue to deal with and resolve.
Yet as a watching audience we have now seen a great example of how a woman can be interrupted in a defining moment in her career yet a man will not have the same experience (even though he was trashed on social media by Kanye later).
Thursday, January 29, 2015
I took the plunge and discovered the secret!
I have written about my frustration with providers (namely Comcast and AT&T) which seem to value new customers over the ones who have been with them a long time and have been great customers(i.e. pay their bills on time). After several phone calls to Comcast's customer service about my rising bill for bundled services (Xfinity, phone, internet) I decided to give AT&T a call. They made me an offer that was great for similar services (Uverse, phone, internet). After talking to my husband we decided to take the plunge and switch.
So after AT&T was installed I called Comcast to cancel our service. This is where I discovered the secret to life (or at least the secret to getting a better rate with Comcast). I was sent to the "customer retention" department. After hearing all the ways I would be unhappy with AT&T the woman finally said that she could get my Comcast bill (that had been a little over $200 a month) down to $115 for the same service.
I just lost it with her. I told her I had called many times and was told that the best they could do was reduce our bill about $30 if I returned all the unused receivers in my house. She offered me new installation, new equipment, wireless receivers for free and just about anything else I wanted. I told her it was too late. I have already made the switch and was not going to make it again. I also said I was extremely unhappy that I had to go to these lengths to find out they did value me as a customer and wanted to work with me to get my bill down to something manageable.
So here is the secret to life with cable or AT&T. If you are unhappy with your cable/internet provider don't call customer service. Call and threaten to cancel your service. Then you find out that there are many ways they can bend the rules to keep you and lower your bill.
Our journey with AT&T has not been without bumps. The internet is not as fast or as reliable at Comcast - as Comcast predicted. The worst problem is that AT&T does not offer CBS On Demand in our area. So we have to remember to DVR our favorite shows on CBS to watch them later. Who watches live TV any more? That works out all right until football runs over on Sunday night and everything gets delayed. Of course football will be over soon.
So the jury is still out on this. My husband is not totally happy with AT&T. We may give in and call Comcast. At least we will be a new customer and will be eligible for all the new stuff, installation and equipment as well as the best rates.
So after AT&T was installed I called Comcast to cancel our service. This is where I discovered the secret to life (or at least the secret to getting a better rate with Comcast). I was sent to the "customer retention" department. After hearing all the ways I would be unhappy with AT&T the woman finally said that she could get my Comcast bill (that had been a little over $200 a month) down to $115 for the same service.
I just lost it with her. I told her I had called many times and was told that the best they could do was reduce our bill about $30 if I returned all the unused receivers in my house. She offered me new installation, new equipment, wireless receivers for free and just about anything else I wanted. I told her it was too late. I have already made the switch and was not going to make it again. I also said I was extremely unhappy that I had to go to these lengths to find out they did value me as a customer and wanted to work with me to get my bill down to something manageable.
So here is the secret to life with cable or AT&T. If you are unhappy with your cable/internet provider don't call customer service. Call and threaten to cancel your service. Then you find out that there are many ways they can bend the rules to keep you and lower your bill.
Our journey with AT&T has not been without bumps. The internet is not as fast or as reliable at Comcast - as Comcast predicted. The worst problem is that AT&T does not offer CBS On Demand in our area. So we have to remember to DVR our favorite shows on CBS to watch them later. Who watches live TV any more? That works out all right until football runs over on Sunday night and everything gets delayed. Of course football will be over soon.
So the jury is still out on this. My husband is not totally happy with AT&T. We may give in and call Comcast. At least we will be a new customer and will be eligible for all the new stuff, installation and equipment as well as the best rates.
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