I've got an old friend who has two monster children. When they were visiting us in DC a few years ago and one of the brats thought it would be funny to run away and hide in one of the Smithsonian museums (Natural History) on a Saturday in July, causing us to search frantically for him for half an hour, I was beyond shocked when, after we found him, he got a "Don't do that again, it's not nice!" and zero punishment.

If it had been one of my kids, I think they would have spent the rest of the vacation tied to my wrist with their mouth gagged -- or shut in the hotel room with no TV, no games, and nothing to do but write ten million times, "I will not run away in museums"!!

Sorry, legis, but I just have to inject one (okay, two) more thing(s) to the list.

My daughters are constantly complaining about "tired legs", but they're always up for a game of tag or hide-and-seek.

Or jump rope. Although that requires a bit of equipment.

That kind of thing drives me absolutely up the wall!!

So some folks probably wish we'd all just shut the hell up about kids/parenting. In the interest of changing the subject, does anyone want to see my wedding dress? My fiance and I are eloping to Maui in March for a wedding on the beach. I've had a hell of a time finding a dress that worked with my curvy/busty body type and was appropriate for a beach setting and that I liked. but I think I found it. Look here for the front view and here for the back view. Note: that is just the model. I do NOT look like that.

Hi all! My first post here on the meet market /wave!

I just had to chime in on kids in public. I have no kids of my own and, although I want them, am honestly terrified because it seems that you can screw up child rearing about 100 different ways each day. I keep telling myself that if I have an Iron Will and avoid intermittent reinforcement of bad behavior, I'll be fine, but... yeah, terrified. Not to mention the whole giving birth thing.

Anyway, now that I am over 30, I can look back and really appreciate the way my parents brought me up. Rules were rules and, absent something serious, there were no exceptions. I had three older brothers and we had some serious fights, often in the back seat of the station wagon on a trip to the store or something. When that happened all my mother had to do was lightly tap the brakes and we would instantly snap back into position and stfu. Because, let me tell you, if she had to actually stop the car to take care of the situation, we were in big trouble.

When we were around other people, my own fear of embarassing my parents is what usually kept me in line. That seemed to me to be the worst thing I could do. There were times when I wasn't thinking about it, or I couldn't control it, and my brother and I would start to tussle right there in Aisle 5. At home later, after whatever punishment was meted out, my mother would also give us the "you really embarassed me today speech." Nothing was worse than that. My mom also had the ability to stealth pinch me (really hard!) in a way that no one else could see her do it, but would make me straighten up immediately.

So when I see kids running all over like maniacs, I try to picture myself doing that as a child and I just can't see it happening. I think parents need to treat their children like children, not like small adults who make intelligent choices for their own behavior. My two cents :)

That dress is just gorgeous, Suzikins. Congratulations!

Stunning! I love that dress and I want to buy it. I wonder if my husband would mind getting married again?

A wedding on the beach in Hawaii - how lovely, Suzikins! Your dress is perfect for a beach wedding. Friends of mine got married on the beach in Puerto Vallarta in January and it was the best wedding ever!

Saru, it's really not all that bad. It doesn't even take an Iron Will, just a bit of Maturity. You've got to be ready to sacrifice your time for them. You've got to be ready to leave the theater when they cry, to eat in shifts (with the child and one parent outside) when you visit the restaurant. If you can handle that, the rest is easy. And it pays off in love.

I need to put in my two cents on the strict/decisions thing. I was raised by very strict, religious parents. I never got away with anything. I got the belt if I tried.

Until I moved out and went to college. Then I blew a full scholarship to Loyola University in a single year. It wasn't a discipline problem; I have plenty of discipline. I just didn't want to use it.

And I still have incredible issues with authority.

I never lay a hand on my kids. I figure by the time they turn 13 or so, they're as trained as they're going to get. I govern by the Law of Natural Consequences: the stuff you do has consequences. Sure, you can stand on that chair, but be forewarned: its could fall over, and I won't be sympathetic; take care of it yourself. No, you don't have to empty the dishwasher; but I won't be able to wash tonight's dishes, and you'll have to do it instead. No TV, toys, piano, or books until the dishes are done.

When they complain, my first response is usually, "That sounds like a problem; what are you going to do about that?" Amazingly, even at 3, my kids could solve their own problems most of the time.

I have the best-behaved 9-year-old in the world. She makes her own decisions, and she has since she was 4 (when she was the best-behaved 4-year-old in the world). I have reason to believe that she will be a fine pre-teen, teenager, and adult. My 6-year-old is an angel, and well on the same path.

It even works with the 2-year-old. We've never had any issues with the Terrible Twos, because we don't say "No" very often. It's always, "Yes, after you've eaten your peas," or "First this, then that," or "As soon as this timer (beep, beep) rings."

The upshot is: I don't have lots of Rules, but I have great kids. I don't have an Iron Will, just some sympathy and understanding. All I do is let the world work the way it works, except in cases where it could cause severe injury. Really, parenthood isn't all that tough.

Oh, and birth isn't anything you need to fear, either. My wife did it three times, without an epidural, and she'd love to do it again. I even made a Palm program to help out labor coaches.

When my sister married her husband, his sons from his first marriage were 12 & 8 year old twins. He has half-time custody & people were ready to recommend her for sainthood for taking this on. She just saw it as part of the deal. Now they have two little girls (5 & 3) and the oldest is about to start college. The girls have very rare meltdowns in the grocery store, but the meltdown that gets me is when she tries to take them to Wal-Mart or wherever people go to have their photos taken. I think I'm going to have to wait until they have school pictures before I get a studio shot of those kids. I am impressed with the way the blended family works, but for them it's just business as usual.

Congratulations, Suzikins! My wife and I got married barefoot on the beach in Daytona, with the full moon behind us. That was memorable. Hawaii sounds even better. And such a great dress!

Rinaldo, IMissEthan and other theatre fans, have you see the documentary Broadway, The Golden Age yet? I saw it Wednesday night -- it was really really wonderful.

My favorite meltdown story happened at Price Club. I was sitting in the food court and this little girl was just screaming her head off but you could tell since her brother was standing quietly next to her that she was really ok. These two other woman sitting in the food court starting commenting on her performance and critiquing on how she was doing. It was hysterical to watch.

I haven't seen Golden Age yet, but it's on my rather lengthy list. Now that the Olympics are here, I fear my list will get a lot longer before it starts getting shorter.

Funny you should ask, M. Darcy. I'm going to NYC tomorrow for a theater matinee (The Frogs... yeah, I know it turned out crappy, but I still need to check it off), and was kind of at a loss for something to do in the evening (the train back is too early to catch an 8:00 play beforehand), but on a recommendation of a friend, I was all "Oh! I'll see Broadway: The Golden Age!" Except... as far as I can tell it's ended its run in Manhattan. About to open on Long Island and other places, but not there. I guess I'll catch it in Philly in a week or so when it opens there.

Apparently one of my cousins (now a 77 yr old grandmother) used to throw herself on the floor and have temper tantrums when she was little. My grandmother used to offer her a pillow so she wouldn't hurt her head, and then grandma would proceed to ignore her.

I am so sad. Julia Child has died. As a semi-foodie and lover of cooking shows, I loved and admired this woman so much. *sniff*

Thanks for all the kind comments on the dress. There are some seriously fugly frou-frou dresses out there ya'll. My fiance's sisters are mortified that we are eloping. Do I care? No, I do not. Although my fiance has this insane idea that we'll have a sunrise ceremony. Which sounds lovely but seriously the two of us are very much NOT morning people. Heh! We'll see what happens when it comes down to seriously planning the ceremony.

Heh, I saw Frogs in its first week of previews when Chris Kattan was in it. And, my feelings are it was a mess but that is one more Sondheim show that I've seen. I think I only have Anyone Can Whistle left so hopefully someone will do a production soon.

I'm with you on the sunrise thing, they do schedule it too early. Sunset is is a much more cilivized time of day, if you ask me.

Suzikins, the dress looks lovely! What will the groom be wearing?

M. Darcy, I hear ya. That's what I mean by "checking it off." I've managed to catch Anyone Can Whistle 3 times so far -- in a community-theater production near Indianapolis (on an Air Force base!), at the Carnegie Hall staged concert that got recorded (Scott Bakula et al), and 2 months ago in Chicago. As the Wilma is doing it in Philly this season, and there are strong rumors of Encores! doing it in the spring, there are probably one or two more times in my future.

What gets me (over 30, married, no children) are the parents who say their child (at age 2) is too young to understand, "No." I always want to ask if they've ever tried saying it. My best friend's son knew what no meant before he was 1. He didn't always obey it, but you could tell by the look he gave you that he knew what you meant. Of course, as his (adopted because his parents are both only children) Aunt Lada (he had a problem with R's), I thought he was always perfectly behaved. And he usually was for me. Of course, my husband (Uncle Csot -- for some reason the "Sc" was difficult to pronounce) always said that was because I spoiled him and gave him what he wanted. Not entirely true, but close. But I was his aunt. It was my job to do fun things.

Also, he didn't run wildly in public. Mostly because I was holding him as much as possible.

I don't know how he is now, as his parents had the unmitigated gall to move away several years ago so she could get a degree to be a nurse practitioner and get a job and we haven't seen them in a while. I don't know what gave them the idea they could take their kid away from his aunt and uncle. And now they have two more -- one we barely know and one we haven't met.

Forgot to add: Great dress, Suzikins! Your wedding sounds like it will be really neat, but I agree you should skip sunrise. Sunset is prettier anyway. (I may think that based on how few sunrises I've actually seen.)

auntlada my best friend's two girls and my niece and nephew were all spoiled rotten as children by me, their childless aunt. Every child needs aunts and uncles who can do that. I hardly ever had to say no, I got to take them to the zoo (I had a single parent's pass for about 10 years), to the movies, to the Science Center, etc. I even took them to Toronto's Santa Claus Parade more years than I can count. If they acted bratty though, we would go home. They quickly learned not to mess with me. If I said "don't do that or we'll leave" and they did "it", we would leave.

In my niece and nephew's case, they never would have seen anything outside of their own small town if I hadn't taken them.

What a beautiful dress, Suzikins! And I too cast my vote for sunset rather than sunrise. Like my vote matters.

I have friends who got married on the beach in Hawaii a few years ago. I haven't seen the photos, but to be honest, it looked marvelous -- except that they were wearing matching white shorts and Hawaiian shirts. Which just struck me as a little too casual, even for a beach event.



My daughter and I do that sometimes -- comment on a child's tantrum, how they could be doing X instead of Y, or rating the volume/piercingness of screaming, and generally laughing at it, which often causes great appreciation in the mother.

AnneH, he was always pretty much a perfect angel with me. He generally was very well-behaved in public. His parents always wanted to know why he couldn't be that well-behaved at home, and I always asked, "Wouldn't you rather he be well-behaved in public and wild at home rather than the other way around, like (insert name of well-known wild children at church)?" The only year I've been to the local Christmas parade was the year we took him. I figure without a kid, why go?

We have other friends who have frightful kids, and they never get a babysitter so we see the kids much more than anyone wants. I blame it on the mother, who pushes almost everything off on the father. She just won't do anything except tell him he's doing it wrong. We are often both invited to mutual friends' parties on holidays, and she's just a pill. I think they're invited because people like him, and the hostess sort of likes her. When the hostess is gone, the host (her husband) won't invite them because of the wife and the kids. At summer parties, I'm OK with the kids because they can go outside, but they also bring their kids to the New Year's party, which they know is going to go late (obviously). Why they won't get a babysitter is beyond me -- except that probably they can't get one more than once.

Other friends also have horrid children who eventually were put on medication just because the parents never told them no before age 7. Again, it was largely the psycho wife putting it all in the unprepared husband's hands. I never liked the wife, even before they were married, but the husband was just the nicest person. He was just way too easygoing and relaxed to understand disciplining kids and wasn't prepared to handle it, especially alone. His social skills weren't really well-developed either. He was perhaps the geekiest computer geek I've ever known. I don't know how their kids are now, as they live out of state and we fortunately never see them anymore. I miss seeing him, but not enough to put up with her or the kids.

My dad, when faced w/ a temper tantrum by his grandchildren, will just calmly tell the child how high he rates it. "I give that an 8. If you stamp your feet harder, and make your face redder and madder you could get to 9 or 10." It works in a reverse psychology way. They stop, thinking "Well, that sucks. He likes temper tantrums, and he still won't give me what I want." It may not work if you're the parent, but as a grandparent it works pretty well.

(Oh, I'm pretty sure he only does this at home, not in the middle of a crowded supermarket or anything. I think and hope he'd take the normal approach there.)

As the parent of a 1-year-old I had to jump in this conversation. My son very much understands the meaning of "no." He may not like it, in fact usually he doesn't, but he understands. Sometimes he ignores me, but he's learning his boundaries. If he's noticed something new and crawls over to it, I just have to say "No, dmnolet" and he stops and looks at me. Usually he finds something else to investigate, sometimes it takes picking him up and moving him.

He is also King Tantrum, but is quickly learning that his tantrums will go ignored so they're getting shorter and shorter. I'm hoping the Terrible Twos won't be as bad since he's learning now that he isn't getting anything out of throwing himself on the floor and screaming.

I was at a state fair a few weeks ago and overheard a father talking to his ~3 year old son. He said something like this: "If you look around and see no one you know, get used to it, because you'll never see us again." Probably sounds a little extreme but I bet that kid never strayed more than 2 feet from his family.

AnneH, that's exactly the method I use on my daughter! There's only the two of us, so we pretty much get to do what we want, and she knows that if she acts up there's nothing to stop us from leaving and going straight home. I find it interesting to get outsiders' views on the situation as well. We were out for dinner one night, and she was really hungry so she got kind of whiny before her dinner came. I was frantically trying to distract her when a couple from the next table leaned over and told me how well-behaved she was being. It really made me take a second look at it, and see that even being whiny at least she wasn't disturbing anyone else.

legis, whiny is the one thing that really bugs me. And I keep getting the same "so well-behaved" comment from the onlookers. I start to wonder if maybe they're just sympathizing with the kids and trying to get me to lay off. Of course, I don't usually leave for whining; the penalty for that is just denial of whatever they're whining about.

And people don't understand. Once my kid had a meltdown in a craft store over a toy helicopter thingee. I wouldn't let her have it, but came back to get it after the family was in the car. After all, at least I now knew something to give her for Christmas, or as a reward for surprising me with special behavior. Naturally, the cashier said, "Giving in, hmmm?" Boy, I wished I had a snappy comeback.

During this whole thread, I'm constantly remembering the story of the adopted twins. When asked, one mother said, "Oh, she's wonderful, except when she eats. She's a very picky eater: she won't eat *anything* unless it's got cinnamon on it. It drives me crazy."

The mother of the other twin said: "Oh, she's absolutely wonderful, especially when she eats. She'll eat anything at all... as long as I put cinnamon on it."

Sometimes, it's all a matter of perspective.

Though, my Dad once used my crying to his advantage. Once when I was still very young, we were at Monticello and he got very bored so he gave me a little pinch which started me crying so he was able to leave the tour.

I think I know what you meant, but



Dayum. That is one long labor.

I am going to try this tantrum rating system on my elder the next time she tries one on for size. I generally just pick her up and toss her in her room and tell her that I have no interest in talking to her until she's ready to speak nicely, but this suggestion has a tinge of evil to it that appeals to me.

Suzikins, youre dress is fabulous! Can't wait to see pictures! I am a fool for weddings. I adored mine and wish I could do it all over again.

Great dress Suzikins. My best friend is getting married this weekend, and she's on her third dress (really, she's not a bridezilla - Macy's fucked up the alterations on her first dress and she had to get a new one two weeks before the wedding. She also bought a cheap "backup" dress in case this one didn't get done on time).

My only advice - go to a really good seamstress if you need it altered. It seems like your's is pretty flowy, so it shouldn't need much.

I had a boss once who lived in Northern B.C.. When he and his brothers would fight in the car, their mom would pull over to the side of the road, kick them all out of the car, drive down the road a mile, stop and wait for them to catch up. I thought that was a great method. It released some of their energy, allowed her to have a break and then they could continue on.

My mom was very young when she had me, so there were often discussions about what to do. Often they were along the lines of "we could do that, but why don't we think of it this way"

Here's a flashback. I just remembered my dad leaving me on the side of the New Jersey Turnpike once, when I was throwing a particularly bad fit. (it was only for a minute, but I think I was about 10 at the time).

Whenever my brother and I would start fighting particularly viciously, my dad would threaten to take us to "The Home". We didn't believe him, until one time he actually made us pack suitcases and drove us to this compound with old stone buildings that was very scary looking and left us standing there (again, only for a minute).

I think that one actually got my brother and I to stop fighting for a whole week.

When I was a teenager I gave a younger cousin a "swirly" when he was misbehaving during a marathon baby-sitting weekend. Said cousin has since told everyone about that traumatic experience. My reputation has kept many a kid in line, without me even having to raise my voice.

Beautiful dress, Suzikins! And I can't speak highly enough of eloping; Mr Rabrab and I effectively did, after going around and around for close to six months trying to figure out how to have a "real wedding--his people were all in Florida, and not inclined to travel, my people were almost all in Northern Illinois and in jobs that didn't allow a lot of travel time (farmers can't just collect their vacation days and take off -- who knew?) Our friends are all over the country. About a week before a weekend meeting/party thing that most of the friends were going to be at, we looked at each other and said "Why don't we just do it in St Louis at the party?" I called Mom and told her, he called his mom and told her that they were welcome if they wanted to show up, but we were through with trying to juggle schedules; we were getting married in St Louis on the 6th.

I've done the rating of tantrums or pouts, too. It often does work, if you can keep a straight face while your doing it. I've also told a pouting, lower-lip-stuck-out child that if they can get their lip out juuuust a little bit further, I'd appreciate it, because then I could set my popcan on it.

daria, Mr Rabrab appreciates the invitation but he doesn't really like hockey. He also said the french-cut green-beans work the best--you get the most density and the least slosh.

Ignorant person here: What's a swirly?

Thanks everyone! You guys rock! We are probably going to have these coordinators do our wedding. The groom will most likely be in either khakis and a button-down white/cream/ivory shirt or said shirt and a pair of black dress shorts. He asked if he "should" wear a sports coat or something. I told him that he was welcome to but it wasn't necessary as I'll most likely be barefoot with my beautiful dress (or wearing beaded/sequined flipflops)

However, he will NOT be wearing white shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. Ewww! I have major issues with guys wearing white shorts.....if he isn't going to give me a massage or a tennis lesson then a guy should not wear white short, ever.

Rabrab I've been planning to elope forever, even at the times when I truly doubted that i would ever get married. The whole big wedding just doesn't fit me. Plus all of my family is 600 miles away and a lot of them are teachers. Which would mean that I would have to get married in my home state (where I haven't lived in 13 years) or wait until summer (I hate hot weather and everyone gets married in the summer). Luckily the fiance was all on board with this. He suggested Maui and it was a done deal. We lurve Hawaii; went to Oahu this summer and had a blast. In fact, we made a pact to make it a lifetime goal to visit each of the Hawaiian islands. Heh!

So just the two of us are eloping and then having a big party/bbq/reception for all our family and friends over Memorial weekend. One of his sisters is miffed. Wait until she finds out that my wedding cake is going to be chocolate and his groom's cake is probably going to be a croque em bouche (big tower of cream puffs with spun sugar). Heh!

Yeah, I think the sunrise thing might fall by the wayside. He suggested it but I'm pretty sure I can talk him out of it. Because it would suck if I had to smother him with a pillow at the ass-crack of dawn on our wedding day. :-) My preference is definitely sunset but we'll see what happens.

Suzikins, your dress is gorgeous and so are your ideas. Except for that whole sunrise bit... but you can talk him out of that. I wish you the best. It certainly looks like you're making a fantastic start!

OK, that officially distracted me for about thirty seconds from worrying about my 89-year-old godmother in Tampa. *sigh*

And here I thought I was the only one with a mother who, when I cast myself upon the floor in a screaming rage, calmly looked at me and then just as calmly stepped over me to leave the room. I remember being so perplexed that I just stopped screaming. (Of course, this was at home. I don't think I ever tried it in public, because you can bet that would have been my last outing for a loooong time.)

I remember once my parents took all of us kids (six kids, just under 10 years from first to last) to dinner--it was a real treat, since it almost never happened. When we were done, my dad asked for the check, and was told that an old couple had already taken care of it, commenting on how well-behaved and sweet we were. I remember looking at my older sister and wondering what they were talking about--we were just acting normal. Speaks volumes about how good my parents were. (/pride in my mom and dad--I only hope I can be half as awesome as they were.)

My 9-month-old definitely knows the meaning of the word "No". Or the tone. Sometimes he'll stop, sometimes he'll look over his shoulder at me with a "if you don't want me to do this, you'd better come stop me" smile that I find (although I shouldn't) absolutely hilarious. Of course, that doesn't stop me from getting up and moving him to something safe.

P.S. Suzikins, that dress is absolutely stunning. And you have got to go the Big Island someday soon--it's my favorite (of course, that's because it has an active volcano, but still. It's definitely something you've got to experience.)

I hope your godmother has evacuated, Devichan, especially now that Charley has been upgraded to a Category 4 storm. I'll be sending good -- and dry -- thoughts her way.

Man, it's starting to make me feel guilty for enjoying our stupendously beautiful weather that's a result of the storms sucking all the bad weather and humidity from our area. 75 and low humidity and a nice breeze in New Orleans in August? Tiger Daughter said, "Hell froze over, but we're far enough away that it just cooled down some here." Hee!

Susikins, did you do a lot of searching to get find that wedding planner? I've got a couple of friends who are event planners who offered to do our wedding, but having never been married, I don't know what separates a good wedding planner from a bad one. I've attended enough events to know that looking at pictures doesn't really help because events can look good and still be organizational nightmares. Any suggestions?

Hildy a swirly is something us older cousins used to inflict upon one another. It involved sticking your hapless victim's head in a toilet bowl and flushing. This was in the day before the low-flow toilets, with the water that swirled around before it flushed, thus the name.

Hope your godmother weathers the storm safely Devichan !

rlb8031 My hair stylist actually recommended the wedding coordinators (told ya'll she rocked!) She has been to 2 wedding on Maui that these folks did and she said everything went smoothly and both couples were very happy and satisfied with how things went/turned out. I called and talked to them, got a good feeling/vibe so that is who we are going to use. However, our wedding is going to be pretty simple in that, its just the two of us. Basically, we just need help procuring a marriage license, locating an officiant, getting the location set and a few minor details for the ceremony itself. The reception/party that we are having a later date will be planned by me because again; it will be simple and being very organized/detail-oriented; I know I can make it work.

Have your event planner friends ever actually done any wedding planning? Because the logistics, time frame and stress level is drastically different for a wedding as compared to other events. My only concern with using friends is that you want to be able to assert yourself when things aren't going as planned or are behind schedule and you don't want to make things awkward with friends. My rule of thumb that I use for pretty much everything is get personal referrals from people and then interview the referrals to see which one fits best with your vision and personality. Good luck! When are you getting married? Are you having a big ceremony? Geez, aren't I just full of questions! :-)

Wedding is September 05, so I've got plenty of time to plan, but we are both not organized /detail oriented. I've likened this event to the wedding of Oscar Madison to Oscar Madison. So a planner? Pretty much the only option. Actually, both of them have planned weddings before, and I guess in what is good news, they both know of the other and have spoken highly of each other.

My fantasy is to discover that I can somehow end up on Queer Eye, and Thom will do my wedding for me, even though I'm a girl. But I guess I shouldn't hold my breath.

Suzikins, just ask him if he really wants you to be sound asleep by 9:00 PM on your wedding night ;)

Thank God for TwoP and a new job because I would be (somewhat am) worrying myself sick. I grew up in a suburb of Tampa and my parents and Grandma are going through the storm now.

I just heard from my brother in Orlando. His power is out and the winds are high, but he has an emergency generator and his house is brick, so he figures if his roof holds out, he'll be okay. Oh, and did I mention he runs a small nursing home, so he's got 5 old ladies and a middle-aged man with MS there with him? He said everyone's pretty cool about it except for one of the old ladies.

The thing I don't like about this is that Orlando is two hours from the coast -- it's one of the places people evacuate to. Ah, well, I guess I'll just watch the news tonight.

No, The only places I have ever competed in the US are Delaware, Erie, Pennsylvania and Tampa. There was an event in Tampa every April and I used to justify going because it was an early competition in a place where there wasn't snow on the ground, as opposed to Ottawa where I have thrown in 5 degree Celsius weather on the first weekend in May. The only downside was that it usuallly happened in the middle of exams. I am apparently living proof that you can absorb Canadian History by using a textbook as a pillow.

russellsvs, what sport? Does she referee able-bodied sports as well?


Mama Tiger, I read somewhere that kids under about 10 can't cope with more than two options. It's certainly true for my kids. Even if the choice is do you want A, B or C, they find it significantly more difficult than only having two choices.


I've had the reverse of that experience. When I was 19 or so, I was driving my dad somewhere and he started commenting at length about my driving. Eventually I pulled over to the side of the road, got my chair out of the car, handed him the keys and said "If you know so <bad word> much about it you drive. It took him almost a kilometre of following me to talk me back into the car. The funny thing was, it was my car!

As if my weather-stress wasn't bad enough today, we now have tornados popping up like mushrooms in my state thanks to outlying Charlie rainbands. Whee! And, of course, my fiance and my daughter are on a major highway. I need chocolate or something. Argh!

Normally, I'm a big weather geek. I love big weather and geological stuff. Hurricanes, tornados, nor'easters, blizzards, earthquakes, volcanic stuff... you name it, I'll geek about it. I'm the unofficial hurricane tracker for my workplace because the manager knows I'll look the stuff up anyway, so I might as well be the one he taps to get the info.

That does not mean I want to experience all of these things. I've been through tornados. I don't like them. Fran, Floyd, Isabel? Yeah. Earthquakes in CA? Yes. I've managed to skip the volcano part so far.

Anyway. Mini-rant over. I'm going to try to enjoy the hard science here and think about enjoying TAR with LittleDevi tomorrow night.

It's more interesting that way! Says the girl with the BA in Canadian History. I'm now an accountant - and sadly I find that more interesting.

Back in the day, yes. She's been badly affected by RH for the last 15 years. Before that she officiated for almost every girls sport on at least the HS level - volleyball, basketball, track and field, diving, lacrosse. You name it, she's probably done it. She just missed out on being a track and field official for the '96 Olympics. A very good friend of hers made it, and we still hear about it and have Doris's sneakers from the experience.

When the RA first became a problem, her doctors told her to get active. Since she'd been a tomboy at home, she looked to sports, became a ref, and that was history. Her favorite brother lost the use of his legs due to polie, so she had a keen interest in the handicapped. I can relate more stories about being in bars at 2am when I was 12 or so than anyone should be able to because we were out fundraising for my uncle's organization. Even after she started to decline (RA can be a bitch), she still went to the Games for the Physically Challenged, because she loved it. She always said that the participents there seemed to enjoy it more.

So, er, who else yelled "That's Namibia, jackass!" when that particular delegation walked by, scaring their cats? Couldn't have been just me, right?

(Just had to ask. Back to my couch now.)