Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Honest I didn't

I had no intention of falling of the face of the earth the past few days. I have lots to talk about and lots of pictures that need to be downloaded. I'm just not feeling it you know? Take this recent exchange between myself and the Saint:

Fannie: "You seem kinda down, bad day at work?"

Saint: sigh "No, I looked at my 401K. It's down ..."

Fannie: interrupting "NOOOOOO! What have I told you about looking at your accounts! Stop it right now!"

Saint: sigh "I know, I just can't help it."

Fannie: "Well knock it off; you'll give yourself heart failure and THEN where will we be?"

Yes, my compassion runneth over. I'm not a huge market watcher. I have long term investment strategies and don't focus much day to day, month to month or even quarter to quarter. But after yesterday even I peeked at a few things. People? It is not pretty.

For us, these are paper losses. We aren't living off of investment income, nor are we in the position of having to sell any stocks or bonds. But our parents? Are. My grandmother? Is. So I hope to hell Congress fixes this soon. Or I think many of those politicking jackasses fine folks just may find themselves out of a job come election time. I'm just sayin'.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Friday

The Saint and I head out to Princeton on the Prairie this afternoon for Parents Weekend. We'll do a surprise inspection visit the dorm and take Precious Oldest and friends to dinner.

Tomorrow we'll tailgate and attend the football game. I baked brownies and made macaroni salad last night to take with us. My pre-planning ended up sucking because the kitchen sink backed up big time and now I have piles of dirty dishes that it appears will have to be washed in the utility sink in the laundry room. Blech.

Before we leave I'll record the Presidential debate that may or may not take place depending on whether they:

A. Stay in Washington and, oh I don't know, do the jobs WE are fucking PAYING them to do.

OR

B. Decide not to waste the millions of dollars WE have already spent securing the location for the debate and carry on.

Who me? Fed up with politics? Not at all, and I resent your thinking otherwise.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

I'm Just Sayin'

Did you know that today is National Punctuation Day ? Yeah, me neither. You know what I'd like to see as a National "Awareness" Day?

  • National "Living Within Your Means Is Cool!" Day
  • National "Pay For It With Cash!" Day
  • National "Buy A House You Can Afford!" Day
  • National "Saving For A Rainy Day; It's Not Just For Geeks Anymore!" Day
  • National "Take Your Lunch to Work!" Day
  • National "Just Say No To Debt!" Day

How about you? What "National Day" is on your list?

Monday, September 22, 2008

Shhhh...

I don't know what the hell is wrong with my pictures. Used to be they'd enlarge with a click or two. No longer the case and I don't know/care why. So, promise you won't tell....



I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings....







I TOLD you they were the cutest!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

I Can't Believe

I'm still sitting here watching the Emmy's. OMG, the WORST EVER. I find myself cringing at each ever lamer bit. And yet, I seem to be too lazy to get off the couch and find something constructive to do.

I have been looking at Homecoming pictures. I'm having difficulty finding any I can edit to post because there were THIRTEEN couples in their group and I can't figure out away to crop out all their little faces. So I'm just gonna post this one and let you in on a little secret - THE cutest couple is Precious Youngest and her date!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Well let's see....

Wheee! Homecoming is this weekend. (OK, maybe not "Wheee!") The dance is Saturday and we finally got the damn dress, but not without much drama and angst. Those of you raising young girls who are picky about clothes/shoes/hair at their tender age? Just you WAIT. So very many things must be considered: length, style, color, comparisons to dresses past.....sigh.

As an added bonus, Precious Youngest attends a Catholic high school, so many of the frocks available for these types of occasions do not meet the modesty standards which I love with all my heart set by the school. So last weekend I ended up taking Precious Youngest to a nearby town to shop for dresses with Sib #2 and her two girls and in tow.

In the end, my sister and I decided this was not a bad way to go. We put the three girls in dressing rooms, sat on the giant ottoman in the middle of the dressing area, and they passed twenty dresses back and forth until all had chosen. When we were done we went down the street to the brewery for lunch. On second thought, perhaps going to the brewery FIRST would have eased the pain..... (learn from my mistakes people, I'm just sayin'.)

In other news, Precious Youngest's BFF is up for Homecoming Queen! We are very excited as the BFF is a sweetie. The Saint is feeling proud because he will be driving the BFF in the Homecoming parade and then onto the football field for the ceremony tonight. He will be borrowing the neighbor's Mercedes convertible for the occasion as the Honda simply will not do.

For my part, I hope to have pictures of headless teenagers to entertain you with when this is all over. Now go have yourselves a nice weekend!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Hi, my name is Fannie and I'm a slacker

Well THIS is long overdue. I thought it was about time I said "thanks" to some of my bleeps. So without further ado check out this "Make My Day" award from Green Girl :


And this "Kick Ass Blogger" award from the Hotfessional:


I think the whole idea behind these awards is to introduce you to blogs you may not already know about. I read twenty plus blogs on a daily basis (or at least as often as they post). I'm going to skip the hand wringing, breast beating, and "mea culpa" chanting and just mention some of my favorites.

Blogs I enjoy because they write about raising teenagers. Teenage GIRLS in particular. Some are old "friends"(with a new site!) Some work in the not for profit world. Some I wish would post more often (subtle, no?). They are full of funny musings, incredible writing and keen observations. A few you may have heard of and maybe some you haven't. Some I juststartedreading myself.

Go forth. Click through. Read. Enjoy.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

By Request

The Wrong Kind of Closure *

I remember the day I wrote that card, it seemed almost trivial. I was sending a card to my best friend to say goodbye. We’d grown apart in the last months for a reason that I will never be able to figure out. It wasn’t my choice, but I was dealing with losing him. He was having surgery, though I wasn’t ever told the details of it. I thought it was a good time to send him my best wishes, we’d been through so much and I thought I knew what he needed to hear. It seemed like the right thing to do, I wanted closure. I wanted to be able to say it was done, ended on a decent note with a kind goodbye.

We’d been through a lot together, and even though we weren’t always close for those two years, he was always someone very important in my life. This card was meant to give me peace of mind, so I could think of him in a good light even though I was so hurt from our ended friendship. I was so close to not sending the card. I forced myself to walk down the stairs, open the door, and place it in the mail box. I even stood there and questioned if I should put the flag up. But I did, I put it up and walked away, and my card was carried away that day. It honestly slipped my mind for about a week.

Then it happened. Wandering on Facebook, bored, I stumbled onto a post on his wall. I read it innocently enough, not realizing what was in store. I remember reading it, almost a year later, so vividly. My stomach dropped and my heart almost stopped. I couldn’t focus, and I couldn’t understand what I was reading. There they were. My words were telling him that I would always care. They were telling him that I would always love him as my best friend. That he meant so much to me, even if he had always believed that he meant so little to the world. That I believed in him. Those were my words, but they were said to him mockingly, by someone who wasn’t me.

I was changed after that day. It broke my heart knowing that my best friend, who I’d turned to for everything the past two years, would throw it away for no reason – and then laugh at me for it. He showed other people one of the most personal things I’d ever written on paper, and openly ridiculed me for it. It tore me apart like I was that paper, found to be as worthless as he had considered our friendship.

It wasn’t the first time he’d thrown me out like that, but I made sure it would be the last. Learning you’re better off from a long friendship is hard, and you can’t ever really recover. I don’t think I want to fully recover, because I want to remember. I want to remember that I’m better for moving on, and I want to remember to never treat the people I’ve cared about that way. I lost more then just a friend that day. I lost trust that, since that day, I haven’t been able to give. It’s more painful then just growing apart from your best friend. I wanted closure, I wanted peace of mind. I did get closure, but not the kind I wanted.

You want to leave old friends on good terms, so happy memories don’t make you cry, so if you see them somewhere you aren’t afraid to say hello, so you don’t cringe every time someone mentions their name, so you don’t sit across from them in a classroom and wonder how their life is without you. I didn’t get the closure that I wanted. Eventually, with time, I’ve gained peace of mind. We both ended up okay, I’m happy and I’ve gained new friendships, I’ve learned, I’ve moved on. I know I’m a better person, I learned a valuable lesson, but that moment in time when I felt so humiliated will always be there.

* Posted with permission of the author, Precious Youngest

Friday, September 12, 2008

Blurred Vision

Last night Precious Youngest walked down the stairs and into the room where I was recounting my long, laborious day to the Saint. She handed me two sheets of paper, a red pen, my reading glasses, and went back upstairs. (I've been proof reading papers for the Precious Daughters for a long time, by senior year they take editing suggestions without question.)

The essay was for her AP Literary Analysis course. The assignment was to write a personal essay about a remembered event. I started reading and two sentences into the paper I knew which “event” she was writing about. An incident that altered her high school experience in incalculable ways, not necessarily for the better.

I read the essay three times. Her writing was succinct, powerful, emotionally raw, and fearless. Fiercly blinking to keep the threatening tears at bay, I gave her back those two pages. With an unused red pen.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Sometimes...

Sometimes you get tired. And a little cranky. And you feel overwhelmed. And you think that if one more person sends you a nasty and negative political e-mail you might shoot yourself. Work is exhausting. LIFE is exhausting.

You know that feeling? Here's the antidote:

From: Precious Oldest@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 11:57 AM
To: Fannie@work
Subject: Happy Wednesday!


Hi, Mom!

I was just missing you and thought I'd say hello. I'm feeling much much much better than I was-- yay for Nyquil and cough drops! I think we've managed to save L****** (at least for a while) from being sick, so that's good news. Two of the girls in our hall have mono, though, which is... icky. How's your day been going? I worked with the kids at Wonder Workshop this morning; they're so much fun. I think I just might love my job, which is basically amazing after my SUPERB summer at Tower. Anything happening in KC?

Miss you! Love you!
<3 K***


I feel better, do you? My big ass grant was submitted today, one more (small one) to go, sister tomorrow, but awards coming too. Bye....

Monday, September 8, 2008

Quickie

Much partying, poker playing and general fooling around over the weekend. Except for traipsing hither and yon for the elusive homecoming dress. Saint leaving town today. Big ass grant due on Wednesday. Taking Sib#2 to the hospital Thursday for a "procedure". Starting a new volunteer gig Saturday. Throat scratchy. Whining will commence shortly.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

By The Numbers

For only the THIRD time in American history we will elect a U.S. Senator to the presidency come November.

Come November, for the FIRST time, we will have either the first African American president

OR

the first female vice president.

And come January? NO MATTER THE OUTCOME? There will be a peaceable changing of the guard. New leadership will move into the White house without guns, threats or bloodshed.

We all have a horse in the race. but at the end of the day, we are all Americans.

God Bless.

A letter to Sarah Palin

Dear Sarah Palin,

I listened to your speech last night and I say, “Good for you”. We can sit around wringing our hands saying McCain “shoulda, woulda, coulda picked insertnamehere”. But he didn’t, he picked you. And you said yes. So go for it.

By the way, duh, of course McCain picked you because you’re a girl. Do I think this means every woman in America is going to run out and vote for him because you have a vagina you’re a girl? Uh, NO! Nevertheless, you’re only the second woman to receive this country’s vice presidential nomination, so go out there and do us proud.

Oh, I know folks are saying you don’t have enough experience. I say pfft. I’m certain you can take the experience you gained as a mother, a mayor and a governor and apply it to a higher position. (I remember only too well being overlooked for jobs after seventeen years of “just” running the PTO running the Junior League leading Girl Scout troops raising a family. But I took everything I learned in those seventeen years and went out and got myself a by god career!)

And look at Hillary Clinton! When she was elected to the U.S. Senate by the people of New York she had never held public office of any kind. Furthermore, depending on how you count the votes, she ought to have the Democratic nomination for president.

But I warn you; if it were to be discovered that you’ve had an extra-marital affair allowed a young person in your administration to perform certain “favors” you have indeed pulled a Bree Van De Kamp, or any other such shameful behavior, you will be judged harshly.

You will be seen as having disgraced all women. No one, NO ONE will be more critical of your behavior than members of your own gender. I include myself in that last statement. Because if you have done things that personally repugnant? Then you should never have accepted the nomination.

But for now I choose ignore the rumors. I choose to evaluate you on your merits and not those of you family. I choose to be proud that no matter the outcome in November, this will be a historic election. No matter the outcome America will have a first. A first that has been a long time coming.

Best,
Fannie

P.S. You seem to have the hair thing really working for you. For the love of all that is holy will you please, PLEASE give Cindy McCain a few pointers?

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Quick and Dirty

We had a thoroughly enjoyable holiday weekend. We went to the lake, spent time with the Precious Daughters, went to friends for dinner, and went to The Elders concert Sunday night complete with back stage passes. We LOVE The Elders, but the best part? Hee, Paul Rudd was there with his dad! I got my picture taken with him! And I have to say he just as darling in person!

I'm having a dinner party on Wednesday and a pre-game party Friday night for our HS football team's home opener. And the grants? Yeah, still not written. I may be out of pocket for the next few days. I'm hoping the Saint is in this mode:

song chart memes

But I'm not holding my breath!