What's In A Name?

So yesterday while I was on the field trip with A's class there was a little boy that you just couldn't help but notice. Over active, (even for a 7 year old), disruptive, Unable or unwilling to follow directions, basically a little pain in the butt. The. Whole. Time.

His name was Wrage. That's right, Wrage . Pronounced just like *rage*.

Now, having an unusual name myself, I can understand and empathise (even sympathize) with others that have unusual names but this is not a name like Rock or Phinneas or Apple or Love. This is Wrage!!! Not a positive emotion IMO. What are his parents thinking? It can't possibly be a "family" name! How in the world is this kid supposed to succeed with this name unless he becomes a WWF wrestler??? Yes, yes I know. There's nothing wrong with being a WWF wrestler but why commit your son from the cradle? What mother looks down at her infant son and thinks "Rage.... hmmmmmm yes, Rage would be a perfect name for this little angel -- but we had better add a W so people know that it is his name and not a description." What grandparents would agree? "Oh yes, we see, Wrage. Perfect. We can't have the little guy wanting to be a nice kid.............better pile on some negative connotations with every first impression he makes." Or maybe this is a new trend and we will start seeing other kids with names like Dystain, Pitee, and Spyte since arbitrary spelling changes seem mandatory. It's hard enough growing up these days without saddling kids with names better suited for the WTF file.

And this from a girl named Rich.

Post Easter Round Up

Well Easter weekend has come and gone. The kids are back to school today (no more Spring Break--yay!) And I have a sore throat. Boo. I had hoped that I would be the kind of blogger that would post everyday but life has a way of snatching time away quickly. The Easter party was a huge success--lots and lots of fun. I think though, that I need to keep things a little more simple. I had to work really hard. I had planned to write so much more but I am feeling like absolute crap. I think I will go and make some soup. Ta!

Good Friday

Literally. It was a good day--I am tired. The girls played well and I am just about as ready for this party as I can get without actually putting food out. Hubby just realized what we are doing. Good grief--sometimes it seems like I could give him a written memo every day and our family life would *still* come as a surprise. Huh. Anyway, I am off--I hope to have a good post party post tomorrow. Ta!

Bits and Bobs

So I am half way through with the dessert portion of the party prep. Egg shaped brownies, Vanilla cakes, and jello jigglers. (Read the instructions for the jigglers wrong and had to make a *new* flavor though--strawberry/lemon). Got my layout on the front porch mostly put together--I am hoping to do all of my food and bev service from there rather than have everyone crowd into the dining room. ('Cuz then they all usually STAY there!)

Slept until 5am--that is an improvement. I am in a much better humor today as a result. A nice thing about Spring Break is leisurely bathing where the kids are concerned. Got A all showered and K is in now. No rushing around before bed time!

Last night on the news it was all Terri Schiavo and her family. Protesters, media, lawyers, people in costumes--the whole nine yards. I thought it was absolutely ghoulish. My Hubby just had to watch. I had had enough already! Cameras all pointed at the family--just *waiting* for the announcement of Terri's death. GHOULS! And now Gov. Jeb Bush is petitioning for Terri's custody. WTF????? *sigh* All I can do is pray that she goes quickly and that this circus ends at last.

That's it for me for a while. Maybe later I'll post the party menu just so I'll remember how I spent my Spring Break. Ta!

It feels like cocktail hour

Well it is a red letter day around here. My girls just cleaned their room for the very first time! Now I mean *really* cleaned their room--on their own. Like things were organized and put away where they belong and stuff. Surfaces wiped down. Niiiiice. And now we have just finished dying some eggs. Yay--I love dying eggs! Except for the multi colored fingers that come after.

We are having a neighborhood Easter party on Saturday. WTF was I thinking!?! Actually I am really good at organizing parties and get togethers. I used to work F&B before I became a "perma Mom" and I seem to have a knack for putting these things together. Still---I continually block out how much work it is to *really* put together something nice. Even when casual is the order of the day!

After my almost sleepless night last night I am tired. Happy. But tired. It feels much later than it is. So I think I will go make a cocktail. I still have to come up with something for dinner too. I wonder if there can be such a thing as *too* much pizza..................................

I hate to say it....Well not really

So insomnia struck (I have been awake since 3am up since 3:45) and so I decided to entertain myself around the blogosphere for a while. After completing my rounds of AI bloggers -- And I think that Nadia's mohawk last night was horrible--go back to the big afro PLEASE -- it seemed like most of the buzz was either about Terri Schaivo or the kid that shot up the school in MN. Can I say it now? Though I feel for her family and I think that starvation/dehydration is probably cruel I don't really care. It is none of my business. I have a living will so that this kind of thing is not a problem for me or my family and I wish that everybody would stop treating this like it is the biggest news story in history! Get a grip folks! People die--it happens every day. It can be tragic, sudden, a relief, whatever but if it is not someone that you know or at least a friend of a friend it is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!!! Tip your hat, say a prayer, and move on! *sigh* And as for the kid in MN -- c'mon! He was not a "victim" any more than any *other* teenager. He was a disturbed individual and bacame a killer. That's it! And please can they refrain from draging out all of the Columbine stuff? Over and over and over again?

Some other *news* items that I am apparently supposed to be interested in: Michael Jackson (don't care), Scott Peterson (don't care), swearing by congressmen (WTF? Don't care [h/t neo-neocon]). It seems though, that MJ, SP, and Terri Schiavo are taking up most of the air time and print space and I DON'T CARE.

Man, will I be ever so much happier when there is something else to report on. Sheesh! I'm going back to bed.............

Howdy

Okay, so according to the very nice man who wrote the “how to blog” posts—this is supposed to be my Howdy post. So Howdy! (I really need to tell him Thank You.)

The first thing that you have to know about me is that I am a Mother. This is why at 12:30 am when my youngest A (who is 7) came to me with “Mommy, I don’t feel good” I got her a glass of water and gave her a hug before sending her back to bed. Because 5 out of 6 times that this happens she is fine. Just thirsty or awakened from a dream but essentially fine. I was unaware that this was #6. Damn, just damn. So now I am sitting here sleep deprived and a little twitchy as I look forward to *another* day of Spring Break. I will be watching A’s sister K (who is 8) carefully today for any signs of this stomach bug. Of course, now I will be armed with the foresight that it is her #6 hopefully saving myself from having to use the carpet cleaner.

The “spring” we get with our “Spring Break” here in Wisconsin is imagined at best. Today we can expect a high of 38 degrees. Having lived all over the lower 48 I understand that there is all kinds of spring out there—I must admit that springtime in the south is very pleasant. Especially if you grew up in the north. You always feel like you are getting to open a present a little early. I wouldn’t trade the summers though.

I have been married for more than a decade to a man who is wonderful, while boneheaded at times. He is a great father, and he is largely responsible for us having lived in 8 states (11 cities) over the course of our marriage. He is very good at what he does for a living—there fore the higher ups were always wanting him to go “do it” in other places. He has recently changed companies and I am hoping that this will afford us a chance to stay here for a while. We have been in our current location for a little more that a year—and I love it here. That is why I am not all that hopeful that we will get to stay. I am an optimist but not stupid.

Okay, this seems like quite enough of a “howdy”. I am hoping to have fun with this blogging thing and write about things that are interesting to me. I have been an avid blog reader for several years—I started reading SMASH while he was serving during the Iraq war and loved having an “insiders” perspective on what was happening over there. My blogroll is a list of some of the blogs that I visit regularly I hope to be able to add more blogs to my blogroll over time. Hey, I am new at this and I am not sure just how to do much of anything! lol I was amazed that I was able to create a blogroll at all!

9-11 changed me fundamentally (as it did many people) and I lost my tolerance for the “blame America first” mentality that so many people seemed to have. 9-11 also prompted me to become an active student of politics and current events. I felt that the time had come to grow up and contribute—and be aware, really really aware of what the heck is going on! I consider myself a patriot and a compassionate conservative.

Now on to more and varied posting I hope. It’s a big world out there—I am just here to share my view of it.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

First Post

Well, I have it on good authority that my first post is supposed to suck :-) Glad I can check off something on my blog creation list! There's nowhere to go but up now!