fill in the blanks

1. My uncle once: lived in a house with hundreds of bats in the attic that would swoop outside at dusk.

2. Never in my life: have I jumped out of an airplane. But I would consider it.

3. When I was five: Ian was my best friend and we would play outside until dark everyday.

4. High School is/was: a time when I did a lot of changing.

5. My parents are: starting to realize that I am an adult.

6. I once met: Ed Robertson in a casino. I blabbered like an idiot.

7. There's this girl I know who: is a pathological liar.

8. Once, at a bar: I drunkenly knocked over a barstool in front of my boyfriend’s father.

9. Last night: I didn’t get much sleep.

10. Next time I go to church: will be in search of a new church home.

11. When I turn my head left, I see: what looks like a beautiful spring day, even though it is the middle of January.

12. When I turn my head right, I see: a big pile of scrapbook supplies.

13. How many days until my birthday?: 135.

14. If I was a character written by Shakespeare I'd be: killed in the end over a big misunderstanding a la Juliet.

15. By this time next year: I will be planning for the next phase in my life.

16. A better name for me would be: something people could spell on the first try.

17. I have a hard time understanding: why things never seem to get better.

18. If I ever go back to school I: would have surely lost my mind, since I haven’t really left yet.

19. You know I like you if: I pick on you.

20. If I won an award, the first person I'd thank would be: Whoever was giving the award.

21. Take my advice: Don’t waste time. Do it NOW.

22. My ideal breakfast is: pancakes piled high with butter and syrup. Bacon and sausage. Chocolate milk and coffee.

23. If you visit my hometown: please tell me where it is.

24. Why won't someone: make fat free / calorie free / full taste Snickers bars?

25. If you spend the night at my house: watch out for the early morning gremlins who have absolutely no respect for the sleeping.

26. I'd stop my wedding: to take in every moment before it passed me by.

27. The world could do without: hate.

28. I'd rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: get up early in the morning. I am NOT a morning person.

29. Paper clips are more useful than: my shoe rack.

30. If I do anything well, it is: making people laugh.

31. And by the way: I need my friends more than they realize. Life is short. Don’t waste any precious moments.

i must have learned by osmosis

Well, I guess all is not lost for DD. She's set at least until 8th grade. After that, she's on her own. lol.

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 8/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

science lab

I don't understand science. I'm just not good at it. Science labs were a recurring nightmare for me in school. When professors handed out the lab assignments I would stare at the directions and have no earthly idea what they meant or what in the world they expected me to do. My coping strategy was to pick the smartest lab partner possible and let them do all the work. I was always more than happy to sit and write down the answers while they did all the science stuff. I had a lab instructor take extreme pity on me one semester and begged me just to give him a one sentence summary of what the lab was supposed to prove. He was not asking me to do the lab, solve any equations, or even write anything down. He just wanted me to tell him in words what we had just spent the last three hours doing. I stared at him blankly. I quite honestly had no concept of what had gone on. I just cannot wrap my brain around the whole science lab process.

I have this thing with my kids where we discuss the best and worst parts of our day. I'd like to think it encourages an open dialogue where we are all comfortable to share our feelings and the ups and downs of daily life. This week DD was proud to tell me the highlight of her entire week - Science Lab. She was so excited to create a hypothesis, run an experiment, and draw a conclusion. She even wrote up a lab report.

Freaking science lab. My heart was bursting with pride. But I certainly hope she isn't going to need any help with her homework.

nomads

Growing up my life was entirely nomadic. I don't think my parents would have stayed in one place if they were giving away houses for free. They still don't stay in one place very long. I don't have a home town. When people ask me where I'm from, I don't even have an answer.

But here's the kicker - Now I'm doing it too. And I absolutely hate it. DD was talking to me today about changing schools. It breaks my heart. I told her what it was like for me. And she seemed fine about it. And she probably is. But I'm the one who's falling to pieces about the whole thing. Cause I've been there. And I don't care about this "whole new adventure" line of crap that people feed you. Moving is hard. Change is hard. And that's the cold, hard truth of it.

I wish I knew that things were going to be different for my kids than they were for me. But it's probably a lie. So far things have been exactly the same. Passing down the same crosses to bare from generation to generation.

I so hope that I will be able to break the cycle, because this isn't the way things were supposed to be. We have had to make hard decisions based on our circumstances. But I will do everything I can to put things right and make them better. It's all that I can do.