I was trying to think of some funny Thanksgiving stories but I couldn’t. My Thanksgivings were always very nice and involved lots of good food. One year we went to the school and played with our foxtail. It looks kind of like half a tennis ball with a long fabric tail coming off the end. You throw it by swinging the tail. It is always best to play somewhere where there aren’t too many trees. We have left many a foxtail in state and national parks when we went camping.
One game that we often play at Thanksgiving, or with family in general, is Round Robin. It is a ping-pong game where there is a single paddle on either side of the table and the group of people playing surrounds the table in a long circular line. One person serves and then sets down the paddle and moves out of the way so the next person in line can pick up the paddle. The person on the other side returns it and sets down the paddle and moves out of the way. The new person then has to return the ball and move for the next person in line. You continue around the table until someone misses the ball and they are out. When you get down to four or three players you run around pretty fast trying to pick up the paddle and hit the ball. When there are two players, after you hit the ball you have to spin 180 before you can hit the ball again. My mom usually wins because she is a methodical player and knows how to spot when spinning.
My mom told me that she was cleaning out the basement room with the ping-pong table. Since there is a ping-pong table at work I have gotten better at playing. I think I actually have a chance this year.
25 November 2009
18 November 2009
Reading at the Doctor's Office
Recently I’ve had lots of doctor’s appointments and so, whenever I have to go, I take a book with me. There is a lot of time to read while in the waiting room or in the office itself. Reading is the one advantage to having weekly appointments. I know that I will have at least half an hour of reading on that particular day. I normally read a lot so every time I go I have a new book and every week, without fail, someone comments on the fact that I have a book. I don’t see a specific doctor, in this particular office they rotate, so there are a lot of different people I see.
The nurses remain more constant and there is one nurse in particular that is my book buddy. Even if she is not my nurse for the visit she always comes to say hello and see what book I am reading. There was one week that I walked in and she told me that she had a book for me to read. She faltered over the name but I was able to fill the rest in. She looked at me in surprise and I admitted that I had gotten it from the library and read it over the weekend and was hoping to suggest it to her. She grumbled in mock disgust and then wrote down the title and author of the book that I was reading.
The doctors always say the same thing when they see me with a book.
“A book. That’s a good idea.”
What do they expect me to do while I am waiting for them, sometimes more than an hour? One of the doctors wondered how much I actually read and was rather surprised when I told him I go through, on average, one book a week. Sometimes it is more than one (when the book is really good and I don’t get anything else accomplished at home), sometimes it takes me longer tp finish them, (if the book doesn’t catch my interest or I feel guilty enough to do housework and cook dinner).
Truthfully I wish I didn’t have to go to the doctor’s frequently, in fact it is really bothersome. But, as long as I have to go I might as well make it somewhat of an enjoyable experience.
The nurses remain more constant and there is one nurse in particular that is my book buddy. Even if she is not my nurse for the visit she always comes to say hello and see what book I am reading. There was one week that I walked in and she told me that she had a book for me to read. She faltered over the name but I was able to fill the rest in. She looked at me in surprise and I admitted that I had gotten it from the library and read it over the weekend and was hoping to suggest it to her. She grumbled in mock disgust and then wrote down the title and author of the book that I was reading.
The doctors always say the same thing when they see me with a book.
“A book. That’s a good idea.”
What do they expect me to do while I am waiting for them, sometimes more than an hour? One of the doctors wondered how much I actually read and was rather surprised when I told him I go through, on average, one book a week. Sometimes it is more than one (when the book is really good and I don’t get anything else accomplished at home), sometimes it takes me longer tp finish them, (if the book doesn’t catch my interest or I feel guilty enough to do housework and cook dinner).
Truthfully I wish I didn’t have to go to the doctor’s frequently, in fact it is really bothersome. But, as long as I have to go I might as well make it somewhat of an enjoyable experience.
11 November 2009
Dumpster Diving
To all of those who have served, thank you. Happy Veterans Day.
For some reason when I was younger I always preferred playing sports with guys than playing with girls. I wasn’t good at sports but I figured it was better than sitting in the grass and talking. It also helped that I was always really tall for my age. When I was in first grade I was signed up for a city soccer league. There were two choices: play on a girl’s team or play on a co-ed team. I wanted to play with the boys as well so my parents signed me up for co-ed. I was the only girl on my team and I actually don’t remember there being any girls on any of the other teams. However, I was really young so don’t remember too well. My mom didn’t mind since we knew many of the boys on my team and we even knew the coach beforehand.
When I was in the satellite program the guys played football. I had no idea how to play but I liked it and I would just do what everyone else told me. I guess they didn’t mind having me around because, as I said earlier, I was taller than the rest of them.
In Jr. High I played basketball during lunch. There were a lot of girls who watched but I was the only one that played regularly. I think the big reason they let me play was because my friend and I were the ones who started it and we normally brought the ball. I wasn’t bad at shooting but I wasn’t very good at actually playing. I just had fun.
One day I brought my little brother’s basketball so we could play and as we played a new group of kids came. It was fine until they started playing keep away and I couldn’t get the ball. When the bell rang they threw it into the dumpster before they walked off. I knew I had to get the ball back since I had borrowed it from my brother and so when no one else would help me, I set my can of lemonade on the ground and jumped into the dumpster. Luckily everything was bagged. I quickly threw the ball out to a friend that had stayed to make sure that I was okay. As I was trying to get out something shoved me into the lip of the dumpster and I felt a liquid running down my hair. One of the guys thought it would be funny to close the lid on me and when that didn’t work they poured my lemonade on my head. I was thoroughly embarrassed, I had ripped my pants and my hair was a mess. I still don’t know why but I didn’t go home instead I went to my three other classes of the day. Odd really.
I won’t say that I am scarred in fact it is a funny story I use when I have to tell people about me.
“Yeah I went dumpster diving in Jr. High and blah, blah, blah.”
I think it is funny that two years after that someone recognized me as the girl in the dumpster. I was more famous than I thought.
For some reason when I was younger I always preferred playing sports with guys than playing with girls. I wasn’t good at sports but I figured it was better than sitting in the grass and talking. It also helped that I was always really tall for my age. When I was in first grade I was signed up for a city soccer league. There were two choices: play on a girl’s team or play on a co-ed team. I wanted to play with the boys as well so my parents signed me up for co-ed. I was the only girl on my team and I actually don’t remember there being any girls on any of the other teams. However, I was really young so don’t remember too well. My mom didn’t mind since we knew many of the boys on my team and we even knew the coach beforehand.
When I was in the satellite program the guys played football. I had no idea how to play but I liked it and I would just do what everyone else told me. I guess they didn’t mind having me around because, as I said earlier, I was taller than the rest of them.
In Jr. High I played basketball during lunch. There were a lot of girls who watched but I was the only one that played regularly. I think the big reason they let me play was because my friend and I were the ones who started it and we normally brought the ball. I wasn’t bad at shooting but I wasn’t very good at actually playing. I just had fun.
One day I brought my little brother’s basketball so we could play and as we played a new group of kids came. It was fine until they started playing keep away and I couldn’t get the ball. When the bell rang they threw it into the dumpster before they walked off. I knew I had to get the ball back since I had borrowed it from my brother and so when no one else would help me, I set my can of lemonade on the ground and jumped into the dumpster. Luckily everything was bagged. I quickly threw the ball out to a friend that had stayed to make sure that I was okay. As I was trying to get out something shoved me into the lip of the dumpster and I felt a liquid running down my hair. One of the guys thought it would be funny to close the lid on me and when that didn’t work they poured my lemonade on my head. I was thoroughly embarrassed, I had ripped my pants and my hair was a mess. I still don’t know why but I didn’t go home instead I went to my three other classes of the day. Odd really.
I won’t say that I am scarred in fact it is a funny story I use when I have to tell people about me.
“Yeah I went dumpster diving in Jr. High and blah, blah, blah.”
I think it is funny that two years after that someone recognized me as the girl in the dumpster. I was more famous than I thought.
04 November 2009
Two Fast Grades
I am by no means a genius or a prodigy, I just do well in school. After I finished elementary in the satellite program, I attended Jr. High and was once again bored out of my mind. My mom felt bad that I was not challenged and so talked with several people to see what my options were. The conclusion was that I was to change grades. The only issue was I had already started seventh grade and my mom didn’t want me to be bored for the entire year. Once I finished the first semester of seventh grade I was moved into eighth grade.
In my church class I was at least six months younger than everyone else and everyone else was a grade above me which made changing grades nice. I remember the first day of class rather clearly. I went to my new English class, took a seat and watched a little worried as one of the guys from my church class came in and sat down across from me. He stared at me for a second and then came over and politely asked if I was in the right class. I told him yes and he gave a small smile and went back to his seat. I had a couple of other reactions like that but no one really seemed to care that I had changed grades.
My older brother always likes to tell people that I didn’t skip a grade I just did two really fast. Not bad to complete seventh and eighth in one year and move to ninth with everyone else the next year. I am very grateful that I was able to switch because it changed my life for the better. I know that it is somewhat cliché to say that “I wouldn’t be here now if I hadn’t done it.” The nice part is that I like where I am and I don’t have any regrets about changing.
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