by jphilo | Apr 22, 2013 | Out and About
The bro and me loving Mom at last summer’s Cousins Reunion
As a kid, I was pretty sure I was adopted since Mom and I didn’t look much alike.
Her hair was curly.
Mine was straight.
She had blue eyes.
Mine were hazel.
She was strong as Laura Ingalls Wilder’s proverbial French pony.
I was a a pathetic weakling.
Her face was round and freckled.
Mine was long and pale.
But last week, as we drove by a brick house with trim painted an unusual shade of blue, the adoption myth was laid to rest. In unison, we said, “I’m not sure that paint job does that house any favors.” In unison, we burst out laughing. And do you know what I found out when we hooked our little fingers and said, “Pinky friends?”
She’s still strong as that little French pony,
I’m still a pathetic weakling,
And I want to be her pinky friend forever.
by jphilo | Apr 15, 2013 | Out and About
On Saturday, I ate lunch with about 20 young princesses and their slightly older female rellies at a mother-daughter princess tea at a church here in Iowa. After lunch and the program, I chatted with several of the very excited young ladies and left the gala event with the following three observations:
- At these events, complete with a photo shoot that encourages the wearing of girlie regalia, princesses have something much more glamorous than toilet paper stuck to the bottom of their shoes. They have feather boa bits stuck to their ruby slippers.
- A little sparkle goes a long way when you’re between the ages of 5 and 9. Why else would little girls ask me, an aging woman in a frilly dress accessorized with a rhinestone tiara and glittery sash, if they could have my autograph and take my picture with their cell phones?
- When you’re a young girl with stars in her eyes, being a princess really is all about the clothes.
Oh my, they make me want to be little again!
by jphilo | Apr 8, 2013 | Out and About
Our gravel road is closed for Grandma duty today.
Come back tomorrow after I’ve had my baby fix!
Photo Credit: www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net
by jphilo | Mar 18, 2013 | Out and About
Last Thursday I went back to school for the first time in a long time. A former teaching colleague had asked me to represent the world of professional writing at the local high school’s career fair and then speak to some English classes after that. Due to a scheduling snafu that can be blamed on my calenderally-challenged brain, I arrived an hour and a half late for the two hour career fair.
That’s a story for another post–except for one thing.
Flustered by my late arrival, I totally forgot Thursday was the last day of school before spring break and a short day at that, due to parent-teacher conferences. If that realization had dawned earlier, maybe I wouldn’t have been so discouraged by the lack of response from the first two groups of students. To say they weren’t impressed by the life of a writer would be an understatement. They were a hard crowd, and I flopped. Miserably. During the passing time before the last class arrived, I finally remembered. The kids are just marking time until spring break.
So when the class settled in, I asked, “How many of you are counting the minutes until spring break?”
Every hand went up.
“Well,” I leaned toward them with a conspiratorial whisper, “If you’ll just pretend you’re interested in what I say, I’ll let you in on a little secret.”
They leaned toward me.
“Every teacher in this building is counting the minutes, too.”
They laughed.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. “Do you know exactly when in the sweep of the second hand, the dismissal bell will ring?”
They nodded.
“Would somebody in the back of the room wave one minute before it rings, so I can finish and you can get out of here right away?”
Everyone in the back row gave a thumbs up…and we were off.
They asked questions, one after another.
Good questions.
Perceptive questions.
They laughed at my jokes.
They cracked a few jokes, too.
They talked about their writing likes and dislikes.
Their eyes sparkled.
Their faces glowed.
The magic was so strong,
we were all surprised when the dismissal bell rang.
Most students headed straight for the door.
But several stopped to say thank you.
I left the building with tired feet, a renewed appreciation for teachers, and a memory of why teaching had been my chosen profession for 25 years. It feels good to connect with students again, to hear them share their ideas, to see their potential, and to urge them to follow their dreams and use their imaginations.
When a teacher gets her mojo back, she can work magic in young lives.
photo credit: www.freedigitalphotos.net
by jphilo | Jan 28, 2013 | Out and About
My internal thermostat, which had no trouble adjusting to 70+ degree and sunny weather in Corpus Christi last Wednesday, is still rebelling against the 12° temps that greeted me Saturday upon my return to Iowa. On the other hand, I was able to avoid dairy products, and as a result arrived home with energy and without a raging headache, sinus infection, or any intestinal distress. Here are a few discoveries that made the dairy-free diet an easy pill to swallow:
- The Starbucks at the Dallas/Forth Worth airport carried a Garbanzo Bean/Lime Salad that was delicious. The beans were mixed with finely chopped tomatoes and onions and garnished with sweet red pepper and cilantro. The dressing was lime juice, kosher salt, and something hot that gave it a perfect kick. Yum and double yum!
- Starbucks employees will add soy milk to your coffee. Since they don’t set out soy milk at the condiment bar, you can ask them to steam the soy first. I love that extra perk!
- The mom and pop Mexican place in Corpus Christi where we ate supper one night served a soft drink called rice water. Don’t let the name fool you. This delicious drink (I had just a sip) contains condensed milk.
- Order all the shrimp and vegetable dishes you can in south Texas–and there are lots of them, almost all without cheese or any dairy products.
- Speakers often receive a gift bag which usually contains chocolate. MILK chocolate. I left the candy with a thank you note for the maids at the hotel. If anyone deserves chocolate, a hotel maid does.
- When everybody decides to go to Baskin Robbins for ice cream, go along and order their daiquiri ice. The lime with rum flavoring is good. Really good. Really really good. And it sits very light on the stomach.
So, what dairy-free food finds have you discovered while traveling in Texas or anywhere else? Leave a comment!
by jphilo | Oct 26, 2012 | Out and About
My technological skills are limited. For years, they were non-existent. Then, I mastered the garage door opener and the computer on switch in the same month. After that they plateaued for a good long time. Until Monday when my skills sky rocketed, thanks to a technological miracle.
Skeptical?
Then take a good look at the above picture. It documents the execution of a miracle deemed impossible by those who are familiar with my technological deficit.
So what was the miracle?
I connected my computer to an LCD projector, and the Keynote presentation that accompanies the time management workshop I gave at the Iowa Learning Disabilities Conference showed up on the screen ON THE FIRST TRY.
Still skeptical?
Okay, it wasn’t a solo miracle. Lots of people helped, starting with a lady iGenius at the Apple Store. She wrote down the names of two different adapters that can connect MacBook Pros to LCD projectors. I emailed that information to the nice lady coordinating the conference, and she emailed back pictures of the cord that would connect to the Apple adapter.
Getting confused?
I was too until I took the picture back to the Apple Store and showed it to another iGenius. This one was a guy, and he said the adapter required was a VGA. Unfortunately, they were out of stock, but available online. He must have recognized my deer-in-the-headlights look at the mention of online ordering, because he offered to walk me through it. Which he did without laughing even once.
Starting to believe me?
The VGA adapter arrived a few days later. I arrived at the conference plenty early Monday morning, with the adapter and my computer in hand. Another nice lady located the LCD projector and helped set it up. Then she got confused by all the wires, and left to find help. While she was gone, I plugged everything together and opened my computer file. And there it was, the first slide of the presentation on the screen. I even figured out how to manipulate the focus lever.
Can you hear the Charlton Heston miracle music in the background?
That’s when I grabbed my iPad and took a picture. Much to the chagrin of the next nice lady, who arrived to solve the tech issue. Instead she had to endure my incomprehensible babblings about miracles, my incompetence, and the need to digitally preserve the moment or no one would ever believe me.
Now do you believe me?
Thought so.
