Time To Revamp The Calendar

February 23, 2012 By 7 Comments

I’m not real sure how to go about starting a world-wide movement to revamp the whole seasons calendar, but I think it’s time.

Since Mother Nature went and hit menopause, things have just not fallen nicely into the neat little packages they used to. You know, where Spring was Spring and Winter was Winter. And let’s not forget Fall and Summer. They did what they were supposed to.

But not anymore. Mother Nature got her prescription to be bitchy and now it’s a big ole craps shoot as to which season you’re going to get on any given day.

Take for example, this Winter. Tornadoes in January? No freezing days in weeks. Bleh!

The entire country laughed out loud when that Groundhog said 6 more weeks of winter. The country collectively said, “What Winter? Has Winter even started?”

Seriously. Twitter blew up with people from all over — Georgia, Texas, California, Minnesota, Upstate NY, and even that crazy area above us, CANADA — asking where the hell Winter is.

It’s 70 here in Georgia today. That? That is crap, man. Our low tonight is what our average high should be — 58.

Not cool, Mother Nature. Not cool.

Here’s what I want to propose.

  • Seasons should be determined by the states. Give power back to the states (hear that Congress?). Georgia’s seasons obviously need to be different from Wisconsin’s.
  • Consider moving to a 3 season calendar instead of 4 since 12 is still equally divisible by 3.
  • Think about using the wisdom that Phineas and Ferb have imparted to most of us moms out there. MAKE SWINTER A SEASON. Spring + Winter = sheer brilliance. Then we could have Sprummer (Spring/Summer) and Summerall (Summer/Fall). Three seasons right there.

So let’s say we’re in Georgia (because I am).

Here’s how the calendar should look.

Swinter = December, January, February

Sprummer = March, April, May

Summerall = June, July, August, September, October, November

Or, we could go to a two-season plan and have it look like this.

Fawintering = 3 weeks in December and January

Summer = The other 49 weeks

The second option is probably the best for Georgia.

What would revamping of the calendar look like for where you live?

 

 

Filed Under: Just for Fun, Thoughts Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

SOC Sunday: Boba Fett Storms Fernbank

October 30, 2011 By 5 Comments

You know the drill. It’s 5 minutes of unedited, raw writing. And the time starts… NOW!

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Yesterday was Fernbank Museum’s Halloween Party. If you don’t know by now, we LOVE Fernbank with a passion. Henry is kinda a rock star there and our friend @Giga_A_Dino is always waiting with his handler Deanna. I’ve said it before, our Fernbank membership is the best thing we’ve ever bought. I highly recommend it to anyone in the Atlanta area.

Here are a few pictures of the fun we had!

Henry, Giggy and Giggy’s Handler, Deanna!

Everybody’s favorite — the Fruit Bat!

Boba Fett totally would’ve hung out with Charles Darwin, right?

Ran into an old friend, Darth.

Got caught up in a web. But I’m awesome so I can get out!

The BobaFettAsaurus Rex, A Fernbank Original.

I’ll take you ALL down.

Thanks to Fernbank for having amazing programming, even more amazing events and some of the best staff and volunteers in Atlanta!

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This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

  • Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
  • Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
  • Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
  • Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post (on Fadra’s sidebar)
  • Link up your post on her SOC Sunday post.
  • Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.
Filed Under: Adventure, Henry, Memories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

SOC Sunday: DIYDo, DIYDon’t

August 28, 2011 By 6 Comments

#SOCsundaySo, Hurricane Irene. What a big ole’ beast she was. It’s too early for us all to know the extent of the damage she caused, but luckily it wasn’t *quite* as bad as originally predicted.

At this time, there are, however, 10 dead and hundreds of thousands still without power.

A lot of dramatics (including a penis) have been included in coverage this week, but I personally think this is the ONLY way some people understand the enormity of a storm like this.

From the beginning, it hasn’t been so much about what Category the storm was, but the hugemongousness of the storm, over 500 miles wide in some places, moving slowly and steadily right through some of the most populated places in the country. The potential for damage was well, large.

The dramatics, in my opinion, were somewhat warranted.

Unfortunately, we’re in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” society so here’s how I imagine it will go down after it’s all said and done. (“It” being the angle of media coverage)

People in NYC, DC and New England will say “well, it wasn’t as bad as y’all said it would be” because buildings aren’t toppled and there aren’t hundreds of deaths, even though there are feet of water in some places and much damage and destruction caused by wind and large amounts of rain. The complaints will be that “I shouldn’t have evacuated” and how much money was wasted.

However.

If all of Long Island had been wiped off the map and The Lincoln Memorial was knocked down, people would wonder why the hell they weren’t told that it was going to be that bad.

See? Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

Thankfully, the damage and devastation was minimal. But there’s still a lot of cleanup that will have to take place.

*my five minutes is up but I’m going to finish my thoughts*

A lot of people WILL be left homeless and carless and even short a family member after the storm passes. Crews will work around the clock so they can get back to their homes and start picking up the pieces of their lives that were damaged by wind and rain and uncertainty.

Having been through Category 1 and 2 storms 200 miles inland from both Atlantic and Gulf storms and having been on the receiving end of tornadoes spawned from numerous hurricanes, I can say that I, without doubt, would evacuate if I lived in the path of a storm.

*For those who need it, Band Back Together has put together a resource page for Natural Disasters. It’s a work in progress, but somewhere to start.*

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This was my 5 minute Stream of Consciousness Sunday post. It’s five minutes of your time and a brain dump. Want to try it? Here are the rules…

  • Set a timer and write for 5 minutes only.
  • Write an intro to the post if you want but don’t edit the post. No proofreading or spellchecking. This is writing in the raw.
  • Publish it somewhere. Anywhere. The back door to your blog if you want. But make it accessible.
  • Add the Stream of Consciousness Sunday badge to your post (on Fadra’s sidebar)
  • Link up your post on her SOC Sunday post.
  • Visit your fellow bloggers and show some love.

Filed Under: Thoughts Tagged With: , , ,

I’m Thankful

July 21, 2011 By 20 Comments

This has been a most unusual week. A week like no other I’ve ever had. A lot of sadness, a lot of triumphs, a lot of talk of insecurities and anxieties. Not necessarily for me or Jason, but for those around us. It’s made me really ponder things I’m thankful for RIGHT. THIS. MINUTE. Here are 10 of them.

  1. I’m thankful for AIR CONDITIONING! Need I say more? Oh, yes, I should. WORKING air conditioning!
  2. I’m thankful for my oldest and dearest friend who will just call and say she’s in ATL and is coming by!
  3. I’m thankful for divine timing. Two minutes difference in chain of events could have made this week a whole lot different… for a lot of people. In good ways and in bad ways.
  4. I’m thankful for a son who is thoughtful and caring. Even though he has his moments of pain-in-the-butt-ness, he’s such a gentle soul and really does care a lot about life and people.
  5. I’m thankful for busy people who are taking time out of their lives to make others know how much they are loved, appreciated and needed. They are reaching out and being open and honest. It’s amazing to see how kindness and compassion can change the feel of a situation.
  6. I’m thankful for the chance to take a very short vacation to the beach this weekend. It’s for a wedding, but there’s BEACH involved. Which also means HEAT, but I’ll take it. Since we’re not going to be able to take a long St. Simons vacation this year, this will have to do.
  7. I’m thankful for perspective. Being able to see the good in a situation or being able to make heads or tails of a situation is valuable. I’m so glad to be (fairly) logical and rational, otherwise this week would’ve been a lot more difficult.
  8. I’m thankful for hospitals that do amazing things. In the last two weeks, I’ve heard of 8 year olds having aneurysms, young women whose lives are forever changed physically and emotionally, brain injuries that have essentially been corrected, babies who have beat the odds and survived trauma during birth. It’s just overwhelming to me what can be done in hospitals now.
  9. I’m thankful for social media for making a small world even smaller (yes, I’m looking at you, Dana and Chelle).
  10. I’m thankful for my husband. This last week has shown me, REMINDED me, what a good person he really is. He’s caring, thoughtful, loving, appreciative, sensitive and gentle. Sometimes (for all of us) it gets hidden under all the hustle and bustle of life, but it’s always there. Sometimes we just look for it or it takes a traumatic event to bring it ALL to the forefront.

What are some things that you’re thankful for over this past week? It can be as simple as an extra cup of coffee or an hour alone. Or maybe that a small miracle has happened in your life.

Whatever it may be, take a minute and be grateful. Be thankful. Tell someone you appreciate what they do for you.

Filed Under: Thoughts Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Ability To Survive

July 19, 2011 By 27 Comments

I’m just now watching the Jaycee Dugard interview that Diane Sawyer did a few weeks ago. Yes, I know I’m behind, but this is the first time I’ve had to sit and watch it.

I was only 15 when she was kidnapped in 1991. I remember it, but not vividly. I knew there was somebody that was kidnapped. But that was around the dawn of 24 hour IN YOUR FACE news stations and they certainly didn’t have live clips from South Lake Tahoe every 15 minutes every day. So I knew about it but I was way more interested in 90210 than watching CNN or whatever.

The book club I’m in just finished reading ROOM, a novel about 5 year old Jack and his mom who live in an 11×11 room with no contact with the outside world. It was an amazing, yet simple, look at captivity and how the human spirit can overcome just about anything. I won’t give any spoilers but if you get the chance, read it. You won’t regret it.

We met to discuss the book (and other non-book related subjects) and it was only a week later that the Jaycee Dugard interview was on. We talked about how similar the stories were, but how different. Eighteen years in captivity for Jaycee Dugard is more than half her lifetime. Think of what all has changed since then.

She birthed two children while being held in a shack out back of a sex offender’s house, with parole officers checking in on a regular basis.

HOW was she not found? HOW did she not crack? HOW did she not give up?

During the interview, the conversation goes to how she survived it.

Diane Sawyer: How did you stay sane?

Jaycee Dugard: There was always hope. I always had hope… You just do what you have to do to survive.

I’m just awestruck by the strength and resolve that someone like Jaycee Dugard or Elizabeth Smart or even Jack and his mom in the book have. I have a hard time staying at home for more than 48 hours without leaving. I get claustrophobic and itchy and antsy to get out. I can’t fathom spending YEARS, almost two decades, in a situation where the outside world was forbidden.

I believe that what these stories show us is that we ALL have it in us to survive. We all have strength. We all have resolve. Our spirits don’t have to be broken. Jaycee had HOPE.

Even through all the abuse, rapes, filth she lived in, she still had HOPE.

She had to change her name, but she had HOPE.

She birthed, loved and educated two children who were half HIS, the disgusting sex offender who stole her from her mother at the age of 11. And she still had HOPE.

She did this with a 5th grade education. Because she had HOPE and strength.

Near the end of the interview, Diane Sawyer asks her why, after 18 years of being held captive, she has no bitterness or rage.

Jaycee responds with, “I refuse to let him have that. He can’t have… ME. If I had rage, it would mean he had won.”

He didn’t win. He may have stolen 18 years of her life.

But she had hope. And HOPE won.

Her spirit won.

 

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