I love the passing of time

I’ve got two lists here on my desk at work (besides the regular work stuff). One is a list of things that I think of that I want to write/blog about, when I get time. One is a list of personal things that I should do when I have downtime here at work. Both of them have things written on them that have been completed and crossed off, too.

And, of course, I actually have some work to do, while I’m here :-p

To Do:

PTO Newsletter (yikes! I can’t believe I haven’t done that yet!)

Kim Letter (yucky - why do I keep putting that off?) (Kim is Allison’s mom - we need to send her a ‘here’s what she’s doing in school, here’s what days are off school - do you want us to bring her to you, the door is always open’ kind of thing)

Aunt Pat (Jim’s aunt - in the hospital, thousands of miles away in Portland, OR - need to send her letters, pictures, cards, stuff)

WeGo Run - Molly/Karyn (need to try to help both of them donate to the PTO-sponsored run in the spring)
Jump Mileage (need to document payment, addresses & mileage from this weekend’s moon jump deliveries)

I also have a few school papers (volunteer for fun fair, order school t-shirts, fundraiser & boy scout fundraiser) sitting here that I have to do something with.

Blogging Thoughts:

Magic Feather (Everyone’s got one!)

A parent’s world does revolve around their children

Dads (thinking about the dads we saw at the playground on a sunday afternoon - how many were cramming 2 weeks worth of parenting into a 3 day weekend - how can we get dads to know how great it is to hands on parent their own kids - how can we give them the confidence to buck society & do it - etc)

Balanced parenting - letting your kids know that they are awesome in every way, while still teaching them empathy & awareness of their impact on others, teaching them that *everyone else* is awesome, too.

Volunteers - Parents (and others, I guess) whining about the ’service’ they are getting from volunteers in various organizations

Lassie - Sell our pets (Reading Lassie to the kids - Annie worried that we might try to sell our pets & subsequent laughter imagining the sales pitch needed to sell the untrainable (but loveable) beagle/cattledog mix & the basset hound who poops on the floor when she’s scared (and she’s scared of *everything*)) (There - now I don’t think I have to blog about that one anymore - you get the idea )

Ouchie re:AP (a reply to a comment that I made on another board, regarding attachment parenting, that was cleverly worded to appear informative (and it may very well have been), but, instead, seemed like a dig at parents who use attachment parenting techniques)

Men - emotions (another blogger posted about laughing at her SO when he talked about his emotions. I, of course, get all worked up when anyone perpetuates the societal pressure against men - making them think that they should be embarrassed if they show emotion - that it’s wrong - or unmanly. bleah. it’s such a big topic for me, that I can’t figure out how to approach it & say everything that I think needs to be said)

Wrestling (just a whine about BIL who is *still* living with us)

Find Me/Here I Am (really more of a reminder to me to think about a website idea that Jim & I have talked about, but not really moved on. Want to be able to list info about myself (along the lines of Classmates.com, but free) - schools, jobs, cities, maiden name, etc - along with contact info - so that people can find me (and so that I can find the women/former co-workers who I’ve lost touch with over the years))

Betsy/Other people’s children - Just some more ranting/musing about her, along with some introspection into myself as to accepting differences in others.

That’s all… In case you were wondering what kind of things I was thinking about doing/blogging, even if I never actually get around to it.

Had a big long phone conversation with my next older sister about an hour ago. Has me thinking about parenting and about the shifting relationships in my family (my sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews) over our lives. Funny how old memories pop up, things that you had totally forgotten about, years & days & nights. Times when we were friends, times when we were far apart, at different stages in our lives, all of us - but, still that same connection, that same starting place for all of us.

My next older sister is looking for a new house. Through all of the shifts in her life, divorces, moves, death of a teen daughter & an infant granddaughter, she’s at a point now where it’s just her & her two elementary school boys. This afternoon, she’s having a realtor show her the house across the street from mine. Despite the fact that we’ve had our ups & downs, have different lifestyles sometimes, have different ways of going about life (and don’t we all?), I’m kind of hoping that she decides to make an offer on it. It would be nice. Family is nice to have around - both for ourselves & for our kids.

I’ve got this song going through my head right now.

Chinese Café
by Joni Mitchell print

Caught in the middle
Carol we’re middle class
We’re middle aged
We were wild in the old days
Birth of rock ‘n’ roll days
Now your kids are coming up straight
And my child’s a stranger
I bore her
But I could not raise her
Nothing lasts for long
Nothing lasts for long
Nothing lasts for long

Down at the Chinese Cafe
We’d be dreaming on our dimes
We’d be playing “Oh my love, my darling”
One more time

Uranium money
Is booming in the old home town now
It’s putting up sleek concrete
Tearing the old landmarks down now
Paving over brave little parks
Ripping off Indian land again
How long how long
Short sighted business men
Ah nothing lasts for long
Nothing lasts for long
Nothing lasts for long

Down at the Chinese Cafe
We’d be dreaming on our dimes
We’d be playing “You give your love, so sweetly”
One more time

Christmas is sparkling
Out on Carol’s lawn
This girl of my childhood games
With kids nearly grown and gone
Grown so fast
Like the turn of a page
We look like our mothers did now
When we were those kids’ age
Nothing lasts for long
Nothing lasts for long
Nothing lasts for long
Down at the Chinese Cafe
We’d be dreaming on our dimes
We’d be playing
“Oh my love, my darling
I’ve hungered for your touch
A long lonely time
And time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me”
(Time goes - where does the time go
I wonder where the time goes)