Encyclopedia of Me - L

L is for Light - Florescent that it is. This is the fourth house The Tramp and I have lived in together and once again we've worked on changing all the light bulbs to the most energy efficient. The Tramp would like to live "off the grid" and to that end he spends quite a bit of time reading up on the subject. Last week I heard all about solar panels to power the well pump. :) Fine with me. I'm not used to doing without water when the power goes out!

I'd like to have rain barrels and use grey water for the gardens and lawn. I wish we'd been here sooner and had time to prepare for this awful drought. Everything is yellowing, wilted or crisp. Not a good summer to be a farmer in North Carolina.

Name Game Tag

As suggested by Anita, I thought I'd try Name Game Tag. This means going to Google Images and:

The rules:

1. Go to http://www.google.com/
2. Click on Google images
3. Type in your name and search
4. Repost the picture of the oddest, craziest, strangest, coolest, oldest, etc. person that shares your name.
5. Post multiples if you find a few you like. Then pass it on to at least 5 other people.

I tried both Katie and Katherine. Once I got past the photos of Katie Holmes and Katherine Heigl I found some fun stuff. First of all let me say there are LOTS of dogs named Katie!

Katie from Sesame Park (Canadian Sesame Street).

The charming Katie the pig.

Katie the donkey.
I assume this is self-explanatory.
Not sure what to say about this!

A place I should visit...
St. Katherine
And the lady herself...though it should have been listed under Katharine, not Katherine.

Please feel free to play the game!

Encyclopedia of Me - K

K is for Katherine - My name is Katherine and my parents decided very early on to call me Katie. Katherine is from the Greek and means "pure" and "virginal". I was born when the name Kathy was all the rage. So I was the only Katie I knew in a crowd of Kathys. I spent a lot of time correcting people who read Katherine and assumed I was called Kathy, doctors, teachers, everyone. These days Katie is much more popular but I still have to correct some people. I knew another girl in school named Katherine...just Katherine. She had a hugely hard time getting people to respect her name and not shorten it. I also had a 5th grade teacher who called us all by our last names. Not only that, he shortened them. He claimed he had too many brothers and sisters in class over the years and he couldn't keep the first names straight. I was only 10 years old but I didn't buy it. The other teachers didn't have a problem and I knew it was just plain rude not to address someone by their right name. Not using someone's right name is a common way to show disrespect. I couldn't articulate it then but he was one teacher who certainly didn't earn any respect from me!

testing

Testing MarsEdit.

Encyclopedia of Me - J

J is for Jandals - The Tramp's footware of choice is jandals....all year long. Just about the only time he wears closed in shoes (besides at the office) is when there is snow on the ground, much to the amusement of his new American friends. They are heavy rubber and last him quite a while considering how much he wears them.

Those are jandals on his feet. And yes...that's a wolf!

J is for July 4th - All the time I was growing up we lived in the same town. Every year we went to or participated in the 4th of July parade. As a child, I always thought how cool it would be to live on the parade route. I found it amazing that when I was 33 we moved into a house on that street! How cool! Then we started the Obligatory All Day Long Party on the 4th each year. The Ex has photo albums full of pictures. Almost 20 years worth. Despite some special moments I grew to loath the day. :( It was good to get away with The Tramp and visit friends and festivities in other towns and start to enjoy the holiday again. Sadly, this year, I didn't even go to fireworks, anywhere. Next year!


J is for Justice of the Peace - The Tramp and I were married on the beach by a Justice of the Peace. She was a lovely woman and happy to meet us at the beach. She was very petite and wore a long brown robe. Under the robe she was wearing sandals like the rest of us and when the wind blew we realized she had on bright yellow shorts and a blue striped shirt. Wonderful! :)

Encyclopedia of Me - I

I fear I'm falling behind!

I is for iPod, iTunes, iLife, iMovie, iDVD, iHome, iMac.... - All very cool stuff and all very much a part of our lives.

I is for Itch - There seems to be less mosquitoes than last month. Thank God! I always thought New Jersey was bad, home of the "Jersey Mosquito" but little did I know. And we are suffering a pretty nasty drought here. I can only wonder what it's like if it's nice and wet. We also discovered the reality of fleas in the South. I've sprayed the house and treated the dogs and we seem to be holding our own. I confess at first I wasn't sure I could deal with it long term. Now if I could just figure out where the little tiny ants are coming from that are strolling across my monitor...sigh.

I is for Inspiration - I'm really enjoying reading everyone's weblogs. There are so many creative people out there!

Paint and more paint

Last week I spent six days up on a painting scaffold. Trim still needs to be painted but this week I'm taking a break! My sewing room is completely painted. I'm having fun unpacking the boxes and getting fabrics and all my toys out on the shelves. The walls are "Bobby Socks" white and the ceiling is "Apple Creek" blue. I've ordered white Shari Lace curtains from Penney's for the windows and door. I can't wait for them to come! :)

The Tramp was great keeping me supplied with iced tea and regular meals. And of course the most important energy food was close at hand.....

Encyclopedia of Me - H

H is for Hot Flash - When, when, when will they go away????

H is for Hen - I have a small collection of Hen on a Nest dishes (also roosters, rabbits, turkeys, duck, swan, cat, lion). Unfortunately my favorite one broke during the move...sigh.


H is for Handbells - I love to play the handbells. One of the hardest things to leave behind in New Jersey was the handbell choir. When things are more settled I'll look for one around here.

Encyclopedia of Me - G

G is for Grey - About two years ago I decided to stop coloring my hair and see what would happen. I thought it was great. The Tramp thought it was great. Other people were funny about it. This is what I wrote on the day:

Friday, February 18, 2005

Yesterday was the big day. 5:30 yesterday afternoon the last of the dyed hair was snipped off. We are now Au Naturelle! Proudly grey! Getting ready to turn 50 with pride! It's a slow process of course, the birthday isn't until the end of April, but it takes time to work up to these things don'tcha know. It's an interesting process this growing out of the youthful color you were trying to preserve. Your hair becomes public domain, kind of like your belly does when you are pregnant. I found that people who would never normally dream of touching me would march right up and rub my belly when I was expecting.....WIERD. So in the same way, the hair has been fodder for public comment.. Everything from "You go girl!" to "How could you?" like I was destroying the American Dream or something. Lots of discussion by others my age (and older) about when and how and if they will ever go grey and interestingly also the fatalistic comment that we are all going to die of cancer anyway so it might as well be from hair dye! Looking in the mirror is a trip and a half! I'm not used to it yet. Double-take city. This morning's arrival at work was quiet as this is a very small office. Two people didn't say anything. One was nicely complimentary and I got one Fucking Awsome! So I figure it can't be too bad. The Tramp likes it and that's the most important thing. Tomorrow and Sunday I'll be seeing a whole lot of people I haven't seen in a while and it'll be fun if I get some reactions, and if I don't that'll be ok too. What's really important is I just have to make sure I don't start seeing my mother in the mirror.......yet.

G is for Grandson - Not born yet, I have to wait for October for that. Here's the latest photo.

Encyclopedia of Me - F

F is for Fussbudget - Back in the late 50's and early 60's my Dad would buy the new Peanuts books as they came out. I still have many of them put carefully away in a box. Dad started calling me Lucy Fussbudget. I confess it wasn't without good reason. :) My brother picked up on it and for years called me Fuss. I still have notes and cards from him addressed to Fuss. So Lucy is my alter ego. The Tramp will confirm that I fuss with the best of them though I think I'm a whole lot kinder than Lucy, at least the early Lucy, since she softened up over the years. I have a fun collection of Peanuts items, books and t-shirts.

F is for the February child - The Sailor Son is my born-in-February child. He's my youngest. I'm so proud of him. He's overcome all the odds he faced as a child and has matured into a responsible young man, sailor, husband and soon-to-be father. All the worries, fears and tears were worthwhile. What more could a mother want?

Since we are on the subject of nicknames and sons....

When my kids were young I remember taking Eldest Daughter to task for calling her little brother "Butt Head". "But Mom," she said, "if I call him by his name he doesn't answer. If I call him Butt Head he does!" Which she proceeded to demonstrate by trying to get his attention calling him by his given name. No response. So she calls out, "Hey Butt Head!" And he immediately responds, "What?" "See Mom!" she says. Sigh....what's a mother to do?