Remember the vacuum cleaners of the 80s? You know, the ones with the retractable cords? They whipped the cords around with such force that you were scared the plug-in would hit you in the face and give you a black eye? Well, somewhere along the evolution of the vacuum cleaner, the retractable cords became obsolete. Why? They were brilliant. In fact, I’d like to see ALL electronics switch to retractable cords (blow dryers, curling irons, coffee pots, alarm clocks, etc). Cords are the bane of my existence. I hate them and they are everywhere. They get tangled, collect dust and look messy. Why do I have to look at them? Why can’t the excess cord be stored within the device? BRING BACK THE RETRACTABLE CORD (or develop a technology that eliminates cords all together)!  On a side note, did everyone else know that vacuum was spelled with two “u”s? How can I be this old and not know how to spell vacuum? I would have bet my life that it was spelled vacume. Oh well.

I’m proud to say that I have *most of my xmas shopping done. This year, I’ve been really efficient and purchased most of my items online from the comfort of home. However, a few of the items haven’t arrived yet. They seem to have gotten lost. The items were purchased on Dec 9^th with an estimated delivery date of Dec. 15^th. Perfect – plenty of time. Well, today is the 20^th. The last record of them from USPS was on Dec. 10^th in Lexington, KY. Even if they are found, there is NO way they will be here in time. Now I’m going to have to go out and buy “replacement” gifts, to make up for the gifts that haven’t shown up yet. Sigh. So much for being prepared.

There are a lot of things that the younger generation has mastered, but Xmas music is NOT one of them. Case and point. Today on my way to work I heard a Christmas song that made me cringe.

Chorus

I’d rather be hangin alone
Than makin out with Emma Stone
Yeah Id rather get a subpoena
Than kick it with Angelina
Yeah I’ll probably shed a few tears
If you mess up and send Britney Spears
So Santa for my gift, please send me Taylor Swift

This is a Christmas song?!?!  Give me a break. Turns out it’s called “Merry Swiftmas” by Evan Taubenfeld (whoever that is). Sorry Evan, it sucks and unfortunately there is a lot of competition in this arena. Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, etc. I wish all the crappy new Christmas music created in the last decade would go away. I’ll take the classics.

The good news is that we had an AMAZING trip to Thailand. The bad news is we are still on Thailand time.

We returned home on Saturday afternoon and went to bed that night. After a good night sleep, we woke up at 5. A tad early, but overall pretty good. We were proud of ourselves – getting back on PST would be easier than we thought. As we were getting ready to start the day, Derek looked at his phone and had several missed calls. Weird. Who would be calling us throughout the night? I hope there isn’t an emergency. And then we realized.  No, it couldn’t be. Someone is playing a trick on us! It was 5pm on Sunday. We slept through the entire day – we completely missed Sunday. It was dark when we went to bed and dark when we got up. How is that possible?! While the rest of the world was Christmas shopping, going to church, watching football and grocery shopping…we were sleeping. It is such a weird feeling to have slept an entire day not waking up once. It boggles my mind. Needless to say we haven’t conquered the jet lag yet.

I will give details about our trip tomorrow. There is so much to tell, I’m not sure where to start!

I recently came across a study which indicated Seattle ranked #7 out of 273 US cities for online charitable giving in 2008. This made me smile as I love to hear and pass on great things about Seattle. We don’t fare as well in overall, offline generosity/donations, but I prefer to focus on the positive news. This got me thinking about the whole idea of giving and receiving, a timely topic for December. The studies I looked at measured charitable giving in terms of dollars donated to organizations, certainly important and necessary for the many in need right now and something I completely support. The studies didn’t measure the invaluable, individual act of doing. Doing for others may involve money, but more importantly includes the giving of our time, putting thought into it; planning it out, thinking about it, caring. In other words it requires more than writing the check. As a way to offer each other some ideas and share the untold value of an act of kindness, I’m wondering if any of you have a story about a good deed done for you or for someone you know that has stuck with you. Your story may plant an idea that we could do for another person. Think of it as a way to spread the giving. The key may not be the size of the deed, but the amount of care that went into it and the joy it brought to the recipient.

Happy Birthday to Kindra!  Celebrate the great day you were born! (I hope you read your blog today.)

This year we decided to add a different kind of entertainment to our Thanksgiving festivities. We had goldfish races! Kristen suggested it and John gathered all the needed equipment: 2 gutters filled with water and caps for each end to contain the water, small pump and heater to keep the water warm enough for the fish, a table for the gutters to sit on, 2 squirt bottles filled with water, and a goldfish for each person. We set up a single elimination tournament so 2 fish raced and the winner moved on to the next bracket. You may be wondering what we did with the squirt bottles. When you put your fish in the gutter to race, you use the squirt bottle to spray the water to create a kind of current to urge your fish to head in the right direction toward the finish line at the other end of the gutter. It was crazy fun and a hit with everyone – from the teenagers to the grandparents.
My dad won with mom coming in a close second. I will try and post some photos tomorrow. The only bummer was Kindra, Derek and Alec weren’t here to join in with us. So sad!
(Just so you know, the goldfish were not harmed in any way and have all been adopted out to good homes.)

Recommending books to others is a risky business, at least for me. What I enjoy reading gives something away about me and I’m not always sure I’m ready to share. On the flip side of that, I selfishly love to ask others for their favorite read as it gives me a peak into something a bit more personal about them. However, I have a nagging feeling to spread the word about this nonfiction book. The Monster of Florence is a retelling of the on-going investigation of the serial killer that has haunted Florence since 1968. The authors, Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi, join forces in an attempt to find the horrific killer(s). This book is the suspenseful retelling of their search, loaded with Italian roadblocks and conflicting evidence. So, why do I recommend it and why now? Amanda Knox. It is not about her, but it gives you an insider’s view into Italian law and order well as the impact of media on the general public. I do not know if Amanda Knox is innocent or guilty and this is not an attempt to sway anyone’s opinion. I am just always amazed how the general public takes the news and media for the actual truth.

If you are a regular reader and/or Kindra’s friend, I thought you might be curious about Kindra’s young years. Here are a few anecdotes from her childhood.

I will never forget the time I overheard her and her little sister playing “house”. You can learn quite a bit about children if you listen to their play talk. Of course, since they mimic their parents, the lessons are really more about you as a parent. But, I digress. Kindra, always the little executive, and pretending she was the mother, announced to her make-believe family, “I’m going to the office and I have a meeting tonight.” I guess she was born with it.

Kindra loved to hang out with the adults as a child. Most of the time she would do it without us really noticing. When I did notice and told her to go play with the kids, she would eventually sneak back to eavesdrop on the conversation. She didn’t want to miss a beat.

When Kindra was in her later elementary years, she offered to help me with my busy schedule. Her suggestion was that I hire her as my assistant. You know, someone to keep track all of my appointments and responsibilities so I wouldn’t forget anything. It was in that same conversation she reminded me that my driver’s license was about to expire and needed to be renewed. I pondered how much I might pay her.

Kindra took her education very seriously – starting in kindergarten (I should know, as I was her kindergarten teacher). You can imagine her search for the perfect college. I believe she was a sophomore in high school when she announced to me that she had done research on colleges, figured out her requirements, and after an elimination process, had narrowed it down to 97 colleges. I just nodded and told her to keep narrowing.

If you’re a regular reader, you know camping is a big part of her life during the summer. I wasn’t surprised when she offered to email me her checklist for preparing for a camping trip. She didn’t miss a step. After she became engaged, she emailed me the link to the excel spreadsheet for the wedding planning.

Being Kindra’s mom is a privilege and a joy beyond what I ever imagined parenting would or could be.

Kindra writes the best thank-you notes – and the most.
She is an achiever – something I admire.
She plays hard, works hard and loves hard.
She inspires me.
She is easy to make laugh.
She loves sushi!
She is passionate.
She makes me feel like she is my biggest fan.

I am a better person because of my daughters. I think all along, from the moment they were born, they began raising me – I just pretended I was raising them.

for our guest blogger – my mom. Take it away Mom!