Luc

Happy Birthday, Rick!

Well, I managed yesterday. February 23rd is my

Glad to see you are still alive

Sam has struggled with writing for years. At first it was the physical aspect of writing. He had fine motor delays--mostly because he is ambidextrous, which means he didn't develop a strong right or left preference, which didn't give him the normal strength and control he would have had if he had been definitely right or left handed. Sam also has ADHD. I know, EVERYONE seems to have that these days, but in his case it is legitimate. I know this because the medication he is on has made a big difference in his ability to focus on things. He still has normal 11 year old boy behavioral issues, which is fine. I don't believe in medicating away personality. But for a long time, he had difficulty writing--not the physical aspect, but the actual mental process of writing. He is lazy, too, which didn't help. If he was told he needed to write 5 sentences in a story, he would write 5 sentences. Period. For years I have tried to get him to not think about the number of sentences or paragraphs, but to just tell the story, the whole story the way he has it in his head--because that was what was important. If it takes you 5 sentences to tell the story, fine. If it takes you 10, fine also. The idea is to complete the telling of the story. So he has worked on that. *laughs* I am tough with him on writing. I insist that his punctuation, spelling and grammar be as accurate as possible. Of course, I do allow for his being 11. I might pull my hair out at the way he writes some things, but they are in his words, the words of an 11 year old. So he had an assignment due Friday--a book report. I remember the last book report he did. *shudders* He hated me by the time he finished it because I kept handing it back to him--not for spelling, punctuation or grammar (because he is pretty good with that), but for content. He had a list of things he had to address and he addressed them as if he were making a list. His book report read like a grocery list. So I expected this one to be a challenge also. I was pleasantly surprised. He did his report on Frankenstein. The book he read was an edited version for younger readers, but I have read that version and it is pretty good and true to the original. He showed me his first draft and I made a couple of suggestions, mostly trying to get him to write smoother compound sentences rather than short, choppy separate sentences. He just now emailed his final verson to me (he has had the run of my desktop since I have been attached to my laptop). I am posting it here because it's not half bad. And he is getting a major kick out of having something he has written "posted online."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Would have been our third anniversary today. So I went to see him. That

I gave Wombat and Harry away. I shouldn

I

I'm sure I'm going to be in the minority here...but I would go see that. I like Ben Stiller and I like Tom Cruise--as an actor. His politices and personal beliefs may be a bit out there (though I don't really pay that much attention to them, so I am really only basing that statement on what I have heard others say), but I don't care as long as I find him entertaining in whatever role he plays. I like mysteries, especially those with a touch of comedy. Probably why my two favorite programs on tv right now are Psych and Monk. I could see a movie based on the Hardy Boys grown up.

Thanks for your kind words, Kevin and James. I didn't know that. Pretty Baby was a tortiseshell tabby, so maybe that is what happened to her. You are right, they are like family

Last night was just not a great night. Went to the Rats game, which was an early game at 5 pm. I didn

You know, it pays to have kids sometimes. Somehow I went all the way through school and out into the word without really knowing how to divide a word into syllables. Now

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JUSS!

Well, I did actually manage to write something for the Fairy Tale Anthology. I had given up completely last week--after trying for MONTHS to come up with something. I had lots of ideas that seemed good initially, but when I tried to actually write them I couldn't get anything to work. So I gave up. Decided to just throw in the towel and not worry about it. Yeah...right. Don't even ask me how many assignments I didn't complete when I was in school. I was one of those hopelessly geeky kids who wouldn't/couldn't even consider not finishing an assignment. The good thing is I pased that on to my son. The bad thing is that my mind considered the Fairy Tale Anthology an "assignment." So even though I had resigned myself to not writing anything, apparently my subconscious was wringing its hands and pacing and looking at the calendar and muttering about deadlines. So as I was starting to drift off to sleep Saturday night, I got a sudden inspiration. Ended up getting out of bed--much to Scott's annoyance--and writing. Finished writing it at 5:30 am Tuesday morning. Sent it to "he who points out things" and got it back from him tonight. Made the adjustments he "pointed out" and sent it off. Of course, now both Scott and Sam are annoyed with me because for the past 3 days (actually nights since that is when I tend to write) they have been hearing "Go away, I'm writing!" I suppose there is some validity in the "Do you always have to wait until the last minute to do everything?" that they have both been muttering. But hey, what can you do? You are either inspired or you are not. *groans* Though really, I HOPE that I can come up with something for "Endings and Beginnings" a little sooner than the last week of March.

Happy Birthday!

I have an ancient one that was my grandmother's. It is also paper thin and metal and has lots of holes in it. She called it "the pancake turner." It is the ONLY one I will use for cookies and it has never failed me.

Baking cookies is fun. I love to bake. All ovens are different, but what I have noticed with mine is that it gets hotter the longer it is on. That may sound obvious, but ideally ovens are supposed to maintain a steady temperature. But what happens with my oven is that the first batch of cookies takes longer than the second and the second takes longer than the third, etc. My oven is electric. Maybe that has something to do with it. Also, if you don't wait for the oven to be completely preheated, your first batch of cookies will take longer because it IS baking at a lower temperature. As far as getting the cookies off the sheet... Some cookies tend to be fragile when they are hot. You said the ones without the nuts came off the sheet more easily. This makes sense. The nuts are chunky and when the cookie is hot it doesn't cling to the nuts like it does when it is cool. No clue why that is (ask Snowy, he knows everything like that ) but I've observed that. Sometimes cookies come off the pan less easily as you bake more batches. That can be because the previous batch of cookies left traces on the baking sheet. I find that the longer I leave the cookies on the sheet after they come out of the oven, the harder they are to get off the sheet. Your baking sheet also has a lot to do with how your cookies come out. (Ok, I spend way too much time in the kitchen.) My favorite baking sheet is AirBake. It is an insulated baking sheet, meaning there are two layers to the bottom. It takes a minute or two longer for the cookies to bake, but the bottoms pretty much NEVER burn. The cookies you baked look very good. I'm with your dad--I like walnuts in my chocolate chips. My motto: no nuts, no point

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

"Heartwrenched, heartbroken, heart ripped out, stabbed in the back. Shall I tell her how I feel?" Yes, he did end up telling her that. He is very dramatic. No clue where he gets that from. It is so hard to watch Sam in the throes of his first real attempt at a relationship. He is so clueless. He tries so hard to say and do the right things, but everything he says and does is the wrong thing

You know it is going to be a questionable day when: you run out of sprinkles while baking cookies you step on a kitten while trying not to step on the clothes your son has left on the floor after changing into his school clothes you nearly fall down the stairs while carrying garbage--and end up with the garbage bag falling down the stairs instead--and it is the used kitty litter--and OF COURSE the bag breaks you get stopped by a cop because "Whatever you had on top of your car was flying all over the road." Turns out it was the newspaper... you have to stop your car and pick up the newspaper off the road--in the rain you come home from taking your son to school and discover the cat has closed all the windows on your computer with her ass (why is it cats INSIST on sitting on keyboards?) Maybe I should go back to bed and start the day over? After I go to the store and get more sprinkles and another newspaper...

Wow. What an ass that author is! I hope he is a very good writer

I hope New Year

Seems the holidays doses us with a touch of nostalgia. I got a Christmas card from someone I haven't seen or heard from in 6 years. And I found myself looking around for people I used to talk to online. Didn't find any of them, which is probably a good thing. I'm living in the house where I spent most of my childhood Christmases. It's strange looking around the livingroom and dining room at Christmas. I can still see the shadows of Christmases past. I find myself trying to recreate some of it by hanging stockings in the same place where they were hung when I was a kid, but it still doesn't feel the same. Glad your Christmas was ok. Hope you have a Happy New Year.