August 29, 2010

80


Same bat time, same bat channel. Last night we returned to one of our favorite restaurants to celebrate FIL's big 8-0.
Charming Children with their Papa
The two Sassy's - Lassy and Senior. This is a common scene: He says goofy stuff and she pushes his buttons - I think they were arguing over the napkin.
Moments later - all smiles

Two amigos

August 28, 2010

25


Last night was my 25 year high school reunion. I was part excited, part petrified. I hadn't been to a reunion in 15 years and don't really keep in touch with anyone save for a Christmas card here and there or a chance meeting. The event was held at school - not actually our school as we were one of the last classes from the all-girl days and our school was turned into something else after the merger.


My old school - way over there - fond memories of hanging out at the playground in between talking to friends and waiting for guys to sneak over.

I had a blast - I arrived at 6:00 and left at 11:30! There were a few who didn't make it - a couple of them I really wanted to see - Lara, Becca, Julie - but it was so much fun catching up with old friends and making "new" ones. I loved getting to know Lisa O who I had barely spent 10 minutes with in high school and now seems like a soul mate. Cathy C has a deep faith that was tested when she lost her one-year old daughter to brain cancer several years ago - she seems to have a direct line to God that I envy.


Class photos - sorry for the poor quality. I'm in the top section, third row - OMG the hair!
At one point in the evening we observed that most of us gravitated to the same relationships we had in high school - there were the two cheerleader tables (Cretin and St. Thomas), the smokers (I was one of those occasionally in secret only so not offically part of that group), the "steineys" (Einsteins), and so on. I'm sure you're thinking I was at the steiney table. I hung out with fellow Cretin cheerleaders and a few others. I spent most of my time catching up with Lisa E - in high school she was grounded, humble and fun - Mary O was active, generous, and always building others up - Maria W wasn't a "joiner", always comfortable with any group and didn't put up with any nonsense. None of these women have changed - they're all the same but better! I was really surprised to learn the age ranges of kids - one gal has a 23-year old and several had kids under 5. I'm looking forward to staying in touch and who knows, I may even look forward to the 30th.

Hubby went to the boys school which is the new merged school so his photo is in the hallowed halls as well!

August 26, 2010

How time flies

My FIL is eighty years old today - holy guacamole! He loves westerns, candy (especially licorice) and polka. He puts the sass in sassafrass (wonder where our lovely Sassy Lassy gets it from?), but he's our sassy senior.

Want to know what was happening 80 years ago?
  • Herbert Hoover was president of the United States
  • The Great Depression was in full swing
    Mickey Mouse appears in first comic strip
  • World population: 2 billion
  • The first three Nancy Drew mysteries are published
  • Fun With Dick and Jane is published
  • Gallant Fox wins racing's Triple Crown by taking the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes
  • Twenty-five percent of Americans live on or from the farm
  • The first true supermarket opens August 4 on Long Island
  • Tums antacid tablets are introduced
  • Continental Baking Co. has a banner year introducing sliced bread (Wonder) AND Hostess Twinkies!
  • Snickers candy bars are introduced by Mars, Inc.
  • 3M company markets Scotch Tape
  • Neoprene is invented
  • Warner Bros. release their first cartoon series called 'Looney Tunes'
  • The first night game in organized baseball history takes place in Independence, Kansas
  • Jack & Charlie's "21" Club opens in January at 21 West 52nd Street, New York
  • Air conditioning is installed in the White House
  • The 77-story Chrysler Building opens May 27 at the northeast corner of New York's Lexington Avenue and 42nd Street and will be the tallest building in the world until the spring of next year

Films - All Quiet on the Western Front, Morocco starring Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper, Moby Dick starring John Barrymore

Songs - this was the Jazz era and I heart jazz big time!
"Ain't Misbehavin" by Fats Waller
"I Got Rhythm" and "Embraceable You" by George Gershwin
"On the Sunny Side of the Street" by Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh
"Dreamy Blues" by Duke Ellington (later known as "Mood Indigo")
"Georgia on my Mind" by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell
"Body and Soul" by Louis Armstrong

August 23, 2010

Vibealicious

If you don't have the music turned on, you are missing out. I've added a couple of Glee cast songs (of course) to my summer mix. I don't think you're ready for this jelly!

Arctic connection - Adam Young of Owl City ("Fireflies") is from Owatonna, MN.

Enjoy!

August 22, 2010

Why I love Glee

"Don't Stop Believing" from the pilot and "Imagine" from episode 11, Hairography.

And of course, Sue Sylvester -

Every time I try to destroy that club, it comes back stronger than some sexually ambiguous horror movie villain.

So you like show tunes. It doesn't mean you're gay. It just means you're awful.

You'll be adding revenge to the long list of things you're no good at, right next to being married, running a high school glee club and finding a hairstyle that doesn't look like a lesbian.

August 21, 2010

Wicked

Sassy, MIL and I went to see Wicked in Minneapolis last night. It was awesome! I've seen it twice on Broadway, but this was Sassy's first time. She said on the drive home she expected it to be good, but was suprised at just how good it was. Her favorite song is "Defying Gravity" and mine is "Popular". My favorite scene is "toss toss".

0 degrees of separation from Glee -
Kristin Chenoweth, the original Galinda/Glinda, stars in episodes 5 and 16
Idina Menzel, the original Elphaba, stars in five episodes
There's a Diva-Off between Rachel and Kurt singing "Defying Gravity" in episode 9

* hit pause right away and wait a couple of minutes when starting vidoes to give them time to buffer and get an uninterrupted experience

August 18, 2010

JV

Sassy made her high school Jr Varsity volleyball team so we are gearing up for another exciting year! One of the girls who made the team has a mother who is a known yeller so I'm not exactly looking forward to that. I'll try to keep an open mind. And invest in earplugs.

August 17, 2010

Tooting my own horn

Yahoo! After three courses, I offically have a 4.0 GPA!

Though not light reading I highly recommend Riding the Waves of Culture by Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner. I think it especially applicable to those of us in business as it provides real organizational examples.

My book review conclusion:
Riding the Waves of Culture combines theory and in-depth analysis for application to international business. It has enhanced my cross-cultural knowledge whereby I consider dimensions when choosing how to interact with others and that multiple perspectives supports cooperation. Business is about relationships – with customers, employees and other businesses. How we choose to solve problems have the greatest impact on those relationships. Riding the Waves of Culture provides a framework and tools for business leaders to seek an inclusive paradigm on the world stage with the ideal that we can achieve favorable outcomes for all.

My book review evaluation:
Reading this book and presenting it to the small group was supposed to be equivalent to having a major text for the class; presenting it to others even in a compressed form was designed to facilitate everybody’s knowledge of the varied bibliography and literature in the field. In your case, you did an exceptionally good job in both areas. You captured the major points of the book and evaluated them critically. I was particularly glad that you chose this book despite the fact that it is not exactly a bed-time reading. Trompenaars was the first European scholar who “discovered” that US MBA practices did not fit into the European intellectual mode, and claimed that Europeans who traveled in large numbers to US to get their MBA’s have been “brainwashed” His book and subsequent consulting and training activities are a reaction to the US practices, one of which is the lack of cultural sophistication. That is, however, changing, mostly due to compelling forces of globalization and the some congressional incentives to business schools. You understood very well his unique approach to cultural analyses.

My final evaluation:
In general, you write well and organized your papers equally well. You clearly used multiple frames and integrated the literature with both your experiences and the classroom contents. You are a delight for teachers to have students like you who come to the course with high expectations, build-in curiosity and prior recognition that culture is important. We enjoyed having you in the class and appreciate the contribution you made to it. I also appreciate your sharing your introduction and other personal experiences with us. Thanks again and best wishes in your personal and professional work. Your grade is: “A”

August 14, 2010

And the winner is ...

Not me. I am not that mom either and so this post is worth a link. I haven't touched the kids' scrapbooks since we started packing up our old house belongings in anticipation of moving to a new house 4 years ago. And only Chunky's was up to date at the time - I think Sassy was up to age 6. There are other transgressions too numerous to count. Mother of the year will forever elude me.

August 13, 2010

Glee-day the 13th

I wrote this post exactly nine months ago today about my fondness for Friday the 13th.

I'm still obsessed with Glee. It's a sickness. I joined the one-disc-at-a-time version of Netflix so only got to see Season 1 episodes 1-4 the other day. I couldn't wait until the next disc arrived so watched what I could find online. Pathetic. But wait, it gets worse. I could only find episodes 6-10 so I have no idea what happened in episode 5 and when I receive the next disc tomorrow I'll watch that and then send it back for disc 3 to watch episodes 11 and 12. So I while away the time watching something else I used to obsess about - Pushing Daisies. I loved this quirky show. Sadly it suffered at the hands of the 2007-2008 writer's strike. My favorite is the first episode, Pie-lette. You'll get the name if you watch it. Which you should because it's darling.

I need help.

August 12, 2010

Isn't it ironic?

So I did a little "research" on Glee (it's my new obsession). Turns out I've seen two of the main cast members in productions while on my annual NYC visits. As Sue Sylvester would say "this is a travesty of international proportions!"

Lea Michele (Rachel) starred in Spring Awakening on Broadway. This was a 2007 Tony winner, but I have to admit it was not one of my favorites. There is a very provocative scene at the end of the first act and at intermission, Mrs M turned to me and said, "you didn't tell me we were seeing a porn show".

Matthew Morrison (Mr. Schuester) starred in The Light in the Piazza at Lincoln Center. Another Tony winner that was not one of my favorites.

August 11, 2010

Gleefully fly me to the moon

Mylanta airfare is expensive! I have been searching flights in late December to FL and don't see anything under $800. Seriously?! $20,000 will get you to the moon via Virgin Galactic - I hope they award frequent flyer miles. If the fares don't come down after Labor Day we may not be going any farther than Wisconsin Dells.

By the way, I have a new addiction - Glee. Love it!!! I re-joined Netflix just so I could see all of season 1 back-to-back before the next season starts. Sue Sylvester is someone you love to hate. I am looking for just the right opportunity to say "Your resentment is delicious".

August 7, 2010

Pool Play


Our neighbor invited Chunky and his best friend, Dyno, to play in their pool over the weekend - the best thing to do when it's hot (106!) and humid.

August 6, 2010

Smarter than a ...

Fill in the blank. I have no clue. I think my brain matter has been sucked dry. My papers were turned in at 7:20am today and I am feeling like the weight of the world has been lifted from my shoulders. And I am completely exhausted. That's becoming a recurring theme. Quite honestly I don't even have the energy to tell you what I learned. It's amazing though, trust me.

August 3, 2010

Here fishy, fishy

Chunky has had a play date ahem been hanging out with at least one friend and sometimes up to three the past couple of days. He's never hungry when he comes home from day camp so often doesn't end up eating until 8:00 at night (never fear, he scarfs down two sandwiches an applesauce/oranges, crackers and treat every day for lunch). Tonight he asked if he could make fish sticks. Sure, no problem. I love that he can do it himself. I go out to the kitchen to get something and see that the fish stick box is still sitting on the table. Here's how this goes - I ask him to put the box back in the freezer - he says it's empty - I ask how that's possible since I just bought the fish sticks yesterday - he says he's cooking the whole box - there are 18!

August 1, 2010

The path of least resistance

Hubby has been working hard to create a shady oasis on our side yard. He is a big believer in everything looks better with mulch. I volunteered to get the plants which not only allowed me to have a say in the matter but also fed my school work procrastination. We now have a combination of 40 hosta, fern, astilbe and coral bells where there was full evergreen cover. Did I mention Hubby trimmed all the trees so now we can see directly into the neighbors backyard?! We're thinking of putting a few stones down to create a pathway and then this project will be finished.

Before -


After -