How do you know the best stall in a public bathroom October 30, 2008
Posted by irisia in mom, musings.Tags: bathroom privacy, public bathroom stalls, public bathroom traffic, public bathrooms
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Ahhh. Time for pondering – must have too much time on my hands – or too much natural curiosity. But, a while back I began wondering if there was a predictable formula for which stall in a public bathroom might be the cleanest. I quickly found out that when there are only two stalls, they’re both dirty. Pretty much the same goes for 3 because there just aren’t enough to satisfy traffic and still have some empty stalls.
But, after much observation, it seems to be that the very first stall is often the cleanest – thus inferring the very closest stall is the least traffic’d. This does seem to make sense. Most likely there are many reasons people go to the farthest stall. They may want the most privacy. They may want to keep the smell father away from the other bathroomers. They may mistakenly think that the last stall (before the handicapped) is the least traffic’d.
But, why do so few people select the closest stall? Well, one theory is that you have to make a hard left or hard right turn to get into it where you can do a slow meandering turn into the farther stalls. Perhaps people don’t want to be so close to the sinks and the noise.
Next bathroom musing topic will be hand towels and dryers.
When did staying at home become a punishment? October 30, 2008
Posted by irisia in lamentscha, mom.Tags: kids don't want to spend time with parents, kids grounded, kids prefer friends, kids punishment
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I must admit, I don’t think I’ve ever grounded my kids until 2 weeks ago. The boys are 12 and 14 and I’ve never grounded them – most likely because it’s never been a punishment. If I’m trying to implement some negative reinforcement, staying home was not a punishment so it wasn’t effective. But, since then I’ve grounded Kate and Jack once. All of the sudden, staying home was a punishment. I hope it was not because of me. I don’t think I gave them too many lectures during their 1-hr respective groundings.
I hope it’s only because there are more fun things to do outside than the aversion to stay home. I guess I should steady myself for many more years of their desire to be with friends instead of family.
I have so many blessings that I do count their friends as a part of our blessings so I guess it’s a good thing that they’d rather be with friends.
Jack gets another letter of thanks for volunteering October 30, 2008
Posted by irisia in Jack community service, jack, jack boy scouts.Tags: boy scouts, volunteering
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The other night at the court of honor, Jack and JP were asked to come up to the front. They both had no idea why and I think for a moment it made them nervous. They both were thanked and recognized for their unsolicited volunteering at the cub camp out. Another very nice letter was read that had been sent my the cubmaster after their campout. Here it is:
I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you how proud we were of two of your young men from the Troop. the Pack had a camping trip this past weekend at the Museum. While we were setting up camp, JP and Jack walked over to the museum from their neighborhood. They asked if it was okay for them to camp with us. We were glad to have their presence since this was our first camping trip for the year and we had a lot of beginners. During the weekend JP and Jack organized activities with the kids, helped teach the Web2’s fire starting and rope tieing, helped in the kitchen with cooking and clean-up, demonstrated a proper flag lowering ceremony, cheerfully did a skit for our campfire, and helped break camp and load our trailer. They also participated in our 2-hour service project for the museum that involved clearing the trails and lining the garden path with rocks. They both really stepped up and demonstrated leadership skills to our young boys and the boys looked up to them. Our leaders, as well as our parents, were very impressed. We were fortunate to have JP and Jack participate in our weekend, especially since they volunteered to be there without having to be asked. The respectfulness and service of Scouts like JP and Jack is a testament to the success of the Troop leadership. Thanks for letting us borrow your Scouts this weekend.
Day 8 of caffeine withdrawal October 27, 2008
Posted by irisia in Uncategorized.add a comment
I feel like crap. Exhausted, crabby, achy, craving salty foods and chocolate.
Caffeine withdrawal day 7! October 26, 2008
Posted by irisia in health, mom.Tags: caffeine addiction, caffeine withdrawal
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I have not had one soda all week!!! — not even a sip. I have had some caffeine but the soda itself is almost just as bad if not worse because i’ve been drinking soda for so long and I love the carbonation. Yesterday and today I’ve craved having a soda but not terribly. Each day for the past 3 days, I have had one glass of unsweetened iced tea. But, that was really only because the unsweet decaf was not available. Howard asked me yesterday how I feel and he was trying to get at if I felt better. I kept telling him about the withdrawal. But, truth is I don’t feel better yet. I told him I think the caffeine is still getting out of my body and I’m still feeling tired and listless. Hopefully next week I will start getting some renewed energy. I feel really good about this though. I certainly am getting help from a force beyond myself. I told Gary that I am doing this for me 1st but for him second.
A night at the symphony October 26, 2008
Posted by irisia in Matthew's arts, matt, mom.Tags: clarinet, diana searle, mozart, symphony
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Matthew and I went to the symphony together last night for the first time. A young lady named Diana Searle was being featured at an all Mozart symphony at the Union Symphony Orchestra – and she was a clarinetist. The symphony had done a great job advertising with flyers of Diana holding a clarinet. Since Matthew plays, it got my attention. I asked him if he’d like to attend and he said yes. Trying to make sure he wasn’t just being congenial and saying yes for my sake, I walked him through what a symphony experience would be like. I told him about how long it would be. I told him about how far away, what we’d have to wear and all the vital information. And, he seemed to want to go more.
He and I dressed up a little – to a step above business casual. It is Union County NC after all. We went out to a fabulous little Mexican restaurant – Tequiera La Unica in Monroe.
The symphony had 8 pieces; 4 before intermission and 4 after. Diana came out for the 2nd piece through the 4th piece and she was lovely. I didn’t realize that she was just a senior in high school. She stood while she played and she moved the clarinet around while she played. You could really tell it was an extension of her body and that the music played through her. The music she was able to make on the clarinet was far better than I could ever have imagined the instrument could achieve. The range of notes were amazing. She played them so quickly and with such ease. Watching the fingers of all the artists was amazing. How do they make their fingers go so quickly doing that many different things that quickly without making any mistakes. The only disappointment is that she didn’t come back for the 2nd act. I kept waiting for her to return but she did not. It would have been even more of a treat.
The symphony itself was lovely and the orchestra seemed wonderful. I’ve been to the city as a child but I was too young to appreciate it. I will say that everything sounded very string heavy. The violin is my absolute favorite instrument and I could listen to it until I turn blue but I must have been turning blue last night because I though the strings really overshadowed the other instruments. That being said, I only saw a couple brass instruments so perhaps the arrangements were tailored to a clarinet soloist with the lovely hum of strings in support.
I would certainly go again. Kudos the the Union Symphony Orchestra.
Day 4 of caffeine withdrawal. I couldn’t hack it. October 24, 2008
Posted by irisia in health, mom.Tags: caffeine addiction, caffeine withdrawl, giving up soda, soda addication
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Yesterday was day 4 of caffeine withdrawl. Honestly, I’ve barely thought of having a soda. Or, I have thought of it but it’s been much more of a desire than a craving. But, yesterday I had to present to the board at 10:30. About 8AM the caffeine migraine started – the headache, ringing in my ears, light, etc. My boss came in and told me to take 2 Excedrin and have a big cup of coffee so I’d be ready to present to the board at 10:30. So, the migraine went away but luckily nobody saw my fingers shaking from all that caffeine. I was bummed that I had to have caffeine but yesterday the board meeting was more important. Today it’s 9:30 on day 5. So far I feel pretty good.
Matthew in Battle of the books October 24, 2008
Posted by irisia in matt.Tags: battle of the books, kids book club, kids reading
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Twelve books before Christmas and 12 books between Christmas and February 15 and he wants to do this? G-d bless him!
Kids love when their parents are in love October 23, 2008
Posted by irisia in mom.Tags: kids happy marriage, kids love happy marriage in parents, loving parent relationships
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It always amazes me how much the kids love that Howard and I are in love. Our anniversary was earlier this month. Kate asked me again the night before to tell her all the vital statistics – how long we’ve known each other, how old I was when I got married, how long we dated, etc.
The next day, she awoke early and put together quite a surprise. She wrote a card for each Howard and I telling us how much we love eachother. She left mine on my computer. She made a poster for the wall celebrating our anniversary. Then she made breakfast for us and asked her grandma to buy us a gift certificate for dinner. Intuitively this makes so much sense that children love when their parents are in love. But, for some reason I always stop and marvel at how much this does mean to them.
Giving up caffeine, again. October 23, 2008
Posted by irisia in diet, mom.Tags: caffeine addiction, caffeine headache, giving up soda
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Diet soda is a terrible addiction. I haven’t had a soda since Sunday. The first day was hard. I had terrible headaches. It felt like my eyebrows were going to wrap over my eyes and crush them – a strange headache. I also felt very foggy-brained. Yesterday I felt great. Today I was craving sweets all day. Perhaps the fake sweet taste of the diet soda triggers a desire for sweets. So, I had some sweets but hopefully I will be better with this also. Time will tell.
