Someone needs to explain to me why on earth someone who dropped out of Physics 101 in college after receiving a 48% on the first midterm LOVES shows like "Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking" and "The Wormhole" and all those other science-y shows that claim to explain the universe and the planets and so on.
I don't get physics. I really really really don't. And I'm a reasonably smart person. But math is challenging for me once you get into calculus, so that probably explains a lot. But I can't get enough science. I love biology, astronomy, zoology (of course), and even certain aspects of chemistry. Physics can go hang itself, but I'll respect it because Stephen Hawking is good at it and is able to then make TV shows that are fun for me to watch.
At least until they give me a headache.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Lawn mowing is NOT fun.
We bought this house 11 years ago. At that time, Dr. Husband and I made an agreement: I do not mow lawns. This is probably left-over resentment from when I wasn't ALLOWED to mow the lawn (another story for another time...maybe), but the result was the same. I had no desire to mow the lawns on our property. I was willing to weed, garden, plant, harvest, mulch, rake, whatever; but I wasn't going to mow.
So for ten years, Dr. Husband kept his end of the bargain and faithfully mowed the lawn once or twice a week as needed during the warmer months. But then....he earned the "Dr." part of his name, got a real job, and began driving to Cincinnati and back every day.
Not even I could demand that he do all that and continue to mow the lawn twice a week, especially since when he got HIS real job, I quit mine (well, mostly -- I still work the occasional shift). So while I sit here on my duff, eating bon bons and watching soap operas and playing on Facebook, he should continue to drive 200 miles/day and mow the lawn twice a week when he gets home, right?
Wait, that's not completely true. I don't eat bon bons or watch soap operas.
Anyway...I decided to man up (heh) and start mowing the lawn during the week. It was actually easy for me -- I could mow the lawn after I took the Short One to school or early in the morning before it got so warm. Well, easy ONCE I GOT THE DAMN MOWER STARTED! We have a mower with a pull-starter that is just ridiculously hard to start. At least, it's ridiculously hard for ME to start: Dr. Husband waltzes over, pulls once, and it magically roars to life. I have to yank on that f-er 6 or 7 times, as hard as I can, pulling that damn cord to the fullest extent of my reach before it will deign to start for me.
But once I got the thing started, it wasn't bad. Until I realized that my shoulder was hurting...a lot. And it began to hurt all the time...only the right shoulder...and it got worse after I would mow the lawn. And then my shoulder began to hurt so much that it would keep me awake: I couldn't sleep on my right side, and if I happened to turn that way, the pain in my shoulder would wake me up. I finally went to a doctor, and he recommended physical therapy for a pulled ligament in my shoulder due to...wait for it...mowing the lawn.
Seriously?! What kind of weenie does that make me?
Anyway...bottom line is, I had two months of physical therapy and now I'm good as new. Well, good as I ever was, anyhow. But I'm not allowed to even try to start that mower any more.
How ridiculous is it that Dr. Husband has to start the mower for me before he leaves for work in the morning?!
So for ten years, Dr. Husband kept his end of the bargain and faithfully mowed the lawn once or twice a week as needed during the warmer months. But then....he earned the "Dr." part of his name, got a real job, and began driving to Cincinnati and back every day.
Not even I could demand that he do all that and continue to mow the lawn twice a week, especially since when he got HIS real job, I quit mine (well, mostly -- I still work the occasional shift). So while I sit here on my duff, eating bon bons and watching soap operas and playing on Facebook, he should continue to drive 200 miles/day and mow the lawn twice a week when he gets home, right?
Wait, that's not completely true. I don't eat bon bons or watch soap operas.
Anyway...I decided to man up (heh) and start mowing the lawn during the week. It was actually easy for me -- I could mow the lawn after I took the Short One to school or early in the morning before it got so warm. Well, easy ONCE I GOT THE DAMN MOWER STARTED! We have a mower with a pull-starter that is just ridiculously hard to start. At least, it's ridiculously hard for ME to start: Dr. Husband waltzes over, pulls once, and it magically roars to life. I have to yank on that f-er 6 or 7 times, as hard as I can, pulling that damn cord to the fullest extent of my reach before it will deign to start for me.
But once I got the thing started, it wasn't bad. Until I realized that my shoulder was hurting...a lot. And it began to hurt all the time...only the right shoulder...and it got worse after I would mow the lawn. And then my shoulder began to hurt so much that it would keep me awake: I couldn't sleep on my right side, and if I happened to turn that way, the pain in my shoulder would wake me up. I finally went to a doctor, and he recommended physical therapy for a pulled ligament in my shoulder due to...wait for it...mowing the lawn.
Seriously?! What kind of weenie does that make me?
Anyway...bottom line is, I had two months of physical therapy and now I'm good as new. Well, good as I ever was, anyhow. But I'm not allowed to even try to start that mower any more.
How ridiculous is it that Dr. Husband has to start the mower for me before he leaves for work in the morning?!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
For the last time, no we don't have a video game system.
I'm beginning to feel like our house is the only house on the planet without a Wii, Nintendo, Playstation, XBox, or some other kind of stupid video game system (NOTE: the Short One did get a Nintendo DS for Christmas this year, but his usage of it is severely restricted). Other moms look at me so strangely when the subject turns to video games and I say I know nothing about them because we don't have one.
"Really?" (insert incredulous look here)
"Yes, really. I hate video games, and it's just another reason for my kids to park their behinds inside and do nothing but sit. They already watch too much TV, and I want them to play outside."
*blank look*
"Well...but...then what do they do for fun?"
Are you kidding me??? How on earth do parents these days manage to make it if their electricity goes out or the game system breaks or the TV goes on the fritz? My kids read. They play silly made-up games with each other (for instance: the latest game they made up together was called "Boomerang", and it involved taking Bionicle pieces and putting them together to look like the aforementioned throwing apparatus and pitching them up the stairs. It had a point system and everything.). They play REAL games with each other. They play in the backyard with the dog.
And that's not to say the Short One doesn't ask for a Wii or whatever often. He does. But I'm also beginning to wonder if Dr. Husband and I are the only parents in the country who can say "No."
As an extension of this...are we also the only family that doesn't have a DVD player in the car/van? I have a girlfriend who has said she couldn't possibly live without her van's DVD system -- she uses it every single time she puts her kids into the car. She has a 3-year-old, a 2-year-old, and just had a new baby a few months ago, and apparently her older children need constant distraction. Or something. Anyway -- whether it's 2 hours to Grandma's house or 10 minutes to the grocery store, that thing is on when they're in the car. Which leads me to believe there is some silly Dora/Barney/Wiggles/Blue's Clues/Yo Gabba thing playing in their house non-stop.
I swear...I think I'd shoot myself.
Why is it so strange that Dr. Husband and I TALK to our kids in the car? We drove out to Montana and back from our home in central Ohio when the Short One was 2 and 1/2 -- no movies, no ridiculous kiddie music. He had toys/books to futz with in the back seat, and when he wasn't in the mood to entertain himself, we talked, sang, or played road games. Now that there are two kids and they're both a bit older, we play the alphabet game, the license plate game, the letter game, or the kids make up their own game for us to play. The kids listen to the same music we listen to, and they can rock it out to Aerosmith with the best of them.
No wonder people hate road trips so much. If I had to be strapped into a seat with nothing but Disney and Yo Gabba Gabba forced down my throat, I'd hate them, too. Gotta make the road trips fun, folks -- and that means you might have to actually interact with your kids instead of letting the DVD player and video games do it for you.
"Really?" (insert incredulous look here)
"Yes, really. I hate video games, and it's just another reason for my kids to park their behinds inside and do nothing but sit. They already watch too much TV, and I want them to play outside."
*blank look*
"Well...but...then what do they do for fun?"
Are you kidding me??? How on earth do parents these days manage to make it if their electricity goes out or the game system breaks or the TV goes on the fritz? My kids read. They play silly made-up games with each other (for instance: the latest game they made up together was called "Boomerang", and it involved taking Bionicle pieces and putting them together to look like the aforementioned throwing apparatus and pitching them up the stairs. It had a point system and everything.). They play REAL games with each other. They play in the backyard with the dog.
And that's not to say the Short One doesn't ask for a Wii or whatever often. He does. But I'm also beginning to wonder if Dr. Husband and I are the only parents in the country who can say "No."
As an extension of this...are we also the only family that doesn't have a DVD player in the car/van? I have a girlfriend who has said she couldn't possibly live without her van's DVD system -- she uses it every single time she puts her kids into the car. She has a 3-year-old, a 2-year-old, and just had a new baby a few months ago, and apparently her older children need constant distraction. Or something. Anyway -- whether it's 2 hours to Grandma's house or 10 minutes to the grocery store, that thing is on when they're in the car. Which leads me to believe there is some silly Dora/Barney/Wiggles/Blue's Clues/Yo Gabba thing playing in their house non-stop.
I swear...I think I'd shoot myself.
Why is it so strange that Dr. Husband and I TALK to our kids in the car? We drove out to Montana and back from our home in central Ohio when the Short One was 2 and 1/2 -- no movies, no ridiculous kiddie music. He had toys/books to futz with in the back seat, and when he wasn't in the mood to entertain himself, we talked, sang, or played road games. Now that there are two kids and they're both a bit older, we play the alphabet game, the license plate game, the letter game, or the kids make up their own game for us to play. The kids listen to the same music we listen to, and they can rock it out to Aerosmith with the best of them.
No wonder people hate road trips so much. If I had to be strapped into a seat with nothing but Disney and Yo Gabba Gabba forced down my throat, I'd hate them, too. Gotta make the road trips fun, folks -- and that means you might have to actually interact with your kids instead of letting the DVD player and video games do it for you.
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