Category: Flighty Friday

Where you will find frivolous Friday foolishness. Please do not come here looking for organized trains of thought.

Once Upon A Time

~ Lenore Diane ~ Leave a comment

Typically, you’d find my Flighty Friday rambles here, as today is Friday. Alas, as the writer, I am taking liberties to change up the post for today.

.:: Once Upon A Time
I did it. I went through my entire list of 177 Facebook (FB) friends. I took a moment to write a nice salutation to each and every one of my friends. The entire project took 14 days, and I enjoyed all 14 days.

Oftentimes we are told: Look forward not backward; Live in the present; Don’t get bogged down with yesterday; Focus on today; etc. It’s true, you can do more with the present than you can with the past. And, rehashing bad experiences of the past does little to no good. However, sometimes it is nice to reflect back to the past. Good memories should be relived; so says me, anyway.

As I posted comments to each FB friend, I was able to relive countless memories. And, I am amazed at how much those memories mean to me. I haven’t seen or talked to many of my FB friends in years – over 30yrs for some, in fact. Yet, when I recall a memory, I can still see and hear their smiles and laughter. I can still recall the stories they shared with me, as well as the advice they gave me. And, when I remember moments from my school years, it’s as if I am walking the halls all over again.

The moments with many of my FB friends are merely blips in time, but even a blip can last forever as a memory. As I went through each and ever person on my FB friend list, it was another example of how easy it is to touch the life of someone else for better or for worse.

I have a temper. And, there is an email that went around for years regarding a boy with a temper who was instructed by his Dad to hammer nails into a fence whenever he was mad. Well, after a few days of being mad and hammering the nails, his Dad told his son to pull out the nails. When the nails were removed, the fence was full of holes. The point of the story is to show how anger can damage things, even when one apologizes. Holes remain.

Now, I am not trying to convey that some of my FB friends left me with holes. And certainly, I hope I haven’t left any holes in my FB friends (or anyone else). However, it brings home the point (nails the point, perhaps?) that even ‘blips’ in life can leave a mark. And, it serves as another reminder to me that I need to – while living in the moment – realize someone may look back and recall something I said or did. My hope is their recollection will be a good thing. I need to work on that.

I realized something else, as I went through each and every FB friend. I realized I had a crush on many boys in school. Yes, odds are that any of my male FB friends from school were a crush of mine. Are you one of my FB male friends from school? Did you talk to me in school? Did you look at me in school? Did you accidentally bump into me while walking down the halls or in class? Did I accidentally bump ito your while walking down the halls or in class? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those questions, then I am here to tell you – I probably had a crush on you. Don’t worry. I am happily married, and my ‘driving by your house’ days have long gone by. And no – I didn’t drive by your house. You lived too far away. In our next life, would you please live closer? Thanks.

So, once upon a time, for a moment, I had a friend in my life. My friend left behind his/her personal imprint on my life. And, I have thought about that imprint a time or two, remembering the good times. I may never see my friend again, but I will reflect back on his/her imprint, happily ever after.

Today’s Flighty Friday

~ Lenore Diane ~ Leave a comment

:: A Bounty of Bottles
“This is our 7th bottle.” The Mom says, as I arrive at my overnight gig.

The parents of my nighttime responsibility are in the process of testing bottles for daycare. Mom goes back to work soon, and they want to make sure Baby is doing well with her bottle. As it stands now, Baby gets more ‘boob’ than anything else. But, with Mom heading to work, Baby will have to settle for a plastic boob. My first child was mainly a boob drinker, but when a bottle was used – he wasn’t picky. My second child? He wanted a boob and nothing else, and he was not open to discussion.

The 7th bottle? Craziness. Yet, the different styles and types of bottles are endless. Add to the mix the countless types of nipples for said bottles, and well – one can easily become overwhelmed with the choices. So, I should not be surprised that Mom and Dad are trying several different bottles to find the one that is ‘just right’. And a note to parents, Dr. Browns bottles work well, but honestly – with all the parts and pieces … spare yourself, your ‘to do’ list is long enough already.

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A perfect bottle is the quest.
Until it’s found, no one will rest.

So many choices, each a different type.
What is practical and what is hype?

Next comes the nipple, another choice to make.
There are six different types for goodness sake!

Overly complicated? You think? Maybe?
Then again, nothing is too good for baby.

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:: What’s in your Dryer?
Top 10 Items Found in Our Dryer
10. Rocks
9. Pens
8. Coins
7. More rocks
6. Plastic Army guy
5. Always Thin Maxi Pad (still neat (though swollen) in wrapper)
4. Kleenex
3. Pampers diaper (did not fare as well as the maxi pad)
2. More Kleenex
1. Raisins (the raisin box is still MIA)

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It eats socks,
and spits out rocks.

It handles pads with care,
leaving diapers worse for wear.

Regardless of the setting, whether normal or fluff,
it is truly dependable, and it is truly tough.

Though it can create static cling,
the dryer is a wonderful thing.

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:: Distracted
Today I am spending the day in bed. My husband has taken today and Monday as a vacation days, so he can watch our youngest, since our daycare provider also took those days as vacation days. Anyway, I’ve been battling a cold for the past three weeks, and I am finally forcing myself to do nothing. Well, do nothing except write. (Thank you to my kind husband and my kind boss for allowing me this down time.)

I am struggling to finish this post, in part because my head is clogged to the point that I am having a hard time hearing real voices, as well as my inner voices. In addition, I am struggling to finish this post, because I am distracted by what is going in the lives of those around me. I prefer my Friday posts be funny and lighthearted, yet life doesn’t always cooperate. Forrest Gump was right. Life is like a box of chocolates; you don’t know what you are going to get. Furthermore, while you are enjoying your caramel chew, someone else is stuck with the vanilla cream. Eeew.

My friend’s Mom continues her cancer battle, as her radiation treatments resumed earlier this week. And my friend feels her Mom’s last visit to their house was the last time she’d be able to make the trip. Rob’s cousin was told by his oncologist to start looking for hospice care, because he (the doctor) did not have any other treatments to offer him and his battle with cancer: renal, liver, lymph and spine. (Though Rob’s cousin is not giving up, and he is currently seeking treatment elsewhere.) Another friend of mine is in the process of getting her daughter tested for a chromosomal disorder, which would mean a lifetime of health challenges. And yesterday, out of the blue, my son asked me, “When are you going to die, Mommy? Will I still be a kid and have to watch Charlie?” He was afraid he would have to watch Charlie on his own (at the age of 5), and he didn’t think he could do it.

Haiti, still trying to recover from the earthquake, is getting hit by a hurricane. Indonesia is battling the after effects of an earthquake, tsunami and volcano. Mosque bombing in Pakistan. Plane crash in Cuba. The depressing news surrounds us. And, because I am forcing myself to stop today, the sad news is harder to ignore.

Thank God for the complications in finding the perfect baby bottle, and thank God for the miscellaneous items that find their way into the dryer. We need those ‘crazy’ moments as comic relief (though, one may not be laughing as s/he pick up each and every tiny piece of Kleenex scattered through the laundry). And my cold? Please. My cold will go away. And, my cold is not even a blip on the radar of life. Plus, I have a 4yr old coming in my room hourly, asking me if I need anything.

My life is good. And, while I enjoy my bed rest, I will keep those around me in my thoughts and prayers. And, I will do what I can to provide a little bit of sunshine and hope to those around me. After all, everyone is battling something. Hopefully, you’ll find a better chocolate soon.

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The roller coaster of life,
Filled with joys and strife.

We’re all aboard this crazy train.
And, we all need help in staying sane.

So, keep the chocolate at your side.
You’ll need it for this bumpy ride.

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Take care of yourself, and be kind to others.

Fumbling on Friday

~ Lenore Diane ~ Leave a comment

:: Chew on This
Chew Toys for Kids. My 5yr old is orally gifted. ‘Orally gifted’ is another way of saying, the kid puts everything in his mouth. We keep waiting for him to outgrow this sucking and chewing phase, though we’ve stop holding our breath.

His habit came to a head earlier this month, when his teacher found a rubber band in his mouth. ‘Danger. Danger. Danger Will Robinson.’ (How sad it is that many readers won’t have a clue about the “Will Robinson” reference. My age is ever apparent. I digress.)

After the rubber band incident, I made it my mission to find a chew toy my 5yr old could use to (safely) satisfy his addiction. And, I found it! Though, when I showed him a picture of the chew toy, he balked. Telling me he didn’t want it. My response? “Too bad, so sad.” I placed an order.

The order arrived. And, this just in …. he loves it! He is looking forward to taking his chew toys to school. We’ve been given the approval by his teacher and the school director. Apparently, the school was growing tired of losing rubber bands.

Curious as to what I purchased? Chewable Jewels, created by a dentist.

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Socks and blankets; fingers, too.
Anything is good, when you like to chew.

Paper and pencils, sleeves and string.
Clearly, chewing is his thing.

From hand to mouth, so it goes.
When it stops, no one knows.

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:: When I’ll get to it becomes I forgot it.
The boys wanted to light the candle in the pumpkin one morning. With the fast pace of week day mornings, I wasn’t sure lighting a candle was the best idea. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I would remember the candle was lit and blow it out before leaving the house. I told myself I’d get to it. Well, while driving the boys to school, I remembered I forgot to blow out the candle in the pumpkin. What I was going to do became what I forgot to do.

~

Joe had a field trip for school. I drove him to the location of the field trip, and I was told to pick him up at 12:30. I had a busy day, with work deadlines prior to Joe’s pick up time. I was confident I’d remember to pick up my own child, though I thought about setting the timer as a reminder. Later, the phone rang at 12:45. “Ms. Joe’s Mom? Are you coming to get Joe?”

~

Today I am helping Joe’s class with their Halloween Party. The party starts at 10:30. Due to the number of tasks I needed to tackle prior to going to his school, I set a timer to remind me about the party. I suspect the timer will go off soon, as the morning is passing quickly. In fact, a quick glance at my watch and “Crap! It’s 10:45! What happened to the time?! Crap! I forgot to click “OK” on the timer!”

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Trying to remember each item on the list.
Tying little strings around both of your wrists.

And during every task, you remember something new –
Though it was not included on the original ‘to do’.

With each and every side track, the time passes by.
You put your hand to your head and let out a small sigh.

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:: What I Know
This past weekend, I went out of town and spent time with a girlfriend of mine. We had a great time together doing a whole bunch of nothing. Well, included in the whole bunch of nothing was two great games of Scrabble, one in which I kicked her butt and one in which she kicked my butt. (Though her kicking was not nearly as hard as my kicking.)

In addition to enjoying the time together, I learned a few things about myself. First, because I am in a constant state of juggling during my normal day to day life, it takes me at least 12hrs to get to a point where I can start a conversation and follow that conversation to completion. What I mean by that is when I first started chatting with my girlfriend, I started one conversation, quickly turning a corner to another conversation, only to start a third conversation, simultaneously forgetting the original conversation. Fortunately, by Noon on day two, I was able to complete one conversation before moving to another conversation.

Second, I learned I am a walking ‘What not to wear’. This is not news to me. I believe I’ve admitted the fact in the Blogosphere before today. However, this past weekend, I had actually saw one of my ‘What not to wear’ outfits, and I shuddered. Funny thing about full length mirrors – you get to see what you look like. Fear not, with my friend’s blessing, I still went out in public looking perfectly horrid. I fit in quite well with others, though. I mean, we were just going to Wal-Mart. And, no, I have no plans of altering my ‘what not to wear’ style; instead, I’ll avoid full length mirrors. No need to give myself nightmares.

Finally, this weekend I learned that my friend and I both use the word “Really” when sarcastically questioning the judgment (or lack thereof) of someone’s decision making process. My friend and I said ‘really’ frequently. Seriously. Really. We said it all the time. It is an addiction. A really annoying addiction. Here are some examples:

“Really? You don’t think I know about how people say ‘Really‘? Really?”

“Really, Joe? You thought it would be OK to cut Charlie’s hair? Really?”

“Really Lenore?! You’re wearing that out in public? Really?!”

“Really? You think it is cute when your kid passes gas and says ‘I farted’? Really?!”

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What? I’m sarcastic?
You have a problem with that?
Oh Really? Really?!

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Be good to yourself, and be kind to others. No. Really.