Real life. Real lessons.
I’m still here.
I’m swamped.
I’m really just busy…like everyone else.
I have several hot topics I’d love to discuss here but until I can carve out more than 5 minutes on my own blog, please enjoy this optimistically pessimistic text I received from PhilBillPaul:
“My job sucks but at least I am not dancing on a corner
in a statue of liberty costume!”
It’s the little lessons like this one that help us keep our perspective.
Be back soon!
An entire week without internet.
An internet fast.
I wish I could say I lost a few pounds but alas, I continued to eat during my fast.
Two back-to-back trips meant I was gone from home for eight days.
The first trip was so spontaneous that I didn’t have time to prepare any blog posts and thought I would write when I arrived at our destination.
Spontaneity with a family of six is really an oxymoron.
But we pulled it off and I was sure I would just keep blogging when we got out of the car.
Only to find no internet.
Except on my phone. I’m a creative problem solver and a bit of techno-nerd but I cannot write a blog post on the keyboard of my phone.
Nor can I answer emails other than a few short words on my phone.
I’m an old-fashioned typist – shocking but true!
We’re all fine, fine, fine!
Really, it was a lovely break. All the typing and emailing and reading on the computer screen can be exhausting. I think everyone should try to take an internet break a time or two.
Being tethered to the internet and the wondrous wireless world is great but I still like being with people and have conversation while we make eye contact with each other and aren’t multi-tasking with our laptops and cell phones and other amazing electronic gadgets.
I’ll share some highlights in the coming days. Oh, the fun stories I have to tell of the Humpfreeze family travels.
😉
What’s the longest you’ve gone without internet in recent years?
In our continuing “little lesson” on the demise of the English language as we once knew it and all the slang we keep adding to the dictionary, our family plays a little game about how to pronounce words.
I keep a running list on my computer and it has grown over the years. It all started when we were driving up to the mountains and Lizzie said “I know we’re getting close because I saw the sign for Cherry-o-key.”
In her defense, she was in the 3rd grade.
We love to mispronounce things whenever we can. Part of it is some Indiana dialect that comes from both of our mothers. Part of it is that we all have some classic word we have mispronounced and then whenever we try to say it, we have to stop and think “Did I just say that wrong AGAIN?”
Here’s our Humpfreeze list of amusing words that we like to mispronounce on purpose.
Sidenote: I won’t call out who said it wrong first which is usually why it gets on the list. Some are really just for fun. Just in case you read the list and think “Oh my, they are really a dumb family.”
We call our little game “IS IT?” You really have to say them out loud to fully enjoy the game.
Bad inside family jokes posted just to make the kids laugh:
Did any of them make you laugh? Or are you just thinking we really are dumb?
Typos drive me crazy.
Mine.
And other people’s.
It’s a gift and a curse that I see them.
I find typos in published bestsellers.
On CNN.
Restaurant menus. Signs. Flyers. Blogs.
It really should be my full-time job. Proofreader. I know people get paid for this. I’m not sure if it’s lucrative or how I break into the industry.
I’ve been a little too busy to find out. Raising our four darlings.
My real worry is that this next generation is at risk – the new school, text speak, computers, spell check and typing with two fingers are compromising our English skills.
My kids will tell you I’m a pretty big stickler for proofing their papers. Their very strict and old-fashioned years of elementary school set the foundation for my favorite kind of book learning. The kind where the teachers insist your handwriting is legible and your grammar is correct. Crazy, I know.
They are all excellent students with excellent writing skills. Because I think communication is pretty vital to your success both in school and life. (I’m still not sure how or why I needed Algebra as a life skill.) I am positive that good, basic English skills are used continuously throughout your life no matter what career path you choose.
I’m not an expert and I’m not the grammar police. In fact, part of the fun of blogging is to write in a conversational tone and throw out some of those old-fashioned grammar rules. Like…beginning a sentence with “And” which I love to do. And “Because” is my second favorite and I think it’s wrong too. Sometimes I get really wild and END a sentence with a preposition.
I know I make plenty of my own mistakes! But there are some common mistakes that are easily fixed and when I see them – they really add to my craziness. Maybe it’s the coma?
Seriously, I do remember how hard it was to write down the letters and the words after the head injury. And it gets progressively harder with old age.
But here are a few that really send me over the edge…
Don’t even get me started on the proper use of an apostrophe.
I think I’m going to start collecting my favorites and take screenshots when I see them on the web. It takes so very little to entertain me.
Last week, I saw these two on websites:
…I was hoping to here good news.
…taking an active roll in politics.
Anybody else see/read what I see?
Yeah, I know I’ve just opened myself up for critics, grammarians and proofreaders to have a field day with me and my blog.
Have at it. Bring it on. I’ll correct anything that needs correcting and probably learn a few more things in the process! I’m the first to admit it’s always harder to proof your own work than it is to proof someone else’s.
Cuz like I wanna make miself a more better righter.
Whatever. 😉
There are many reasons why your college-age children should go away to college. I heard one mom who had a rule that they have to be at least 90 minutes away.
I’d go with a 3 hour minimum.
Seems like the right amount of time and distance so the quick, impromptu, surprise visits happen rarely, if ever! A little bit of planning goes a long way. Wait, I’m getting off track. That’s a post for another day.
The topic today is WHY they should live in a dorm and not commute from home.
The list is long but since it’s Friday I’m keeping it simple.
So you don’t have to know that your 20 year-old is working on a project at 2:00 a.m. on the kitchen floor because his time management skills are less than stellar.
PhilBillPaul took up for him and asked me, “Didn’t you ever stay up all night and cram for an exam? This is the same thing.”
Why, yes, as a matter of fact I did stay up all night and do that.
But my mother was nestled in her bed 3 hours away and did not get involved or scream at me for losing her glue gun, not being prepared and/or worry that I was going to lose my scholarship if I didn’t get a good grade.
Side note: I didn’t have a scholarship. Illinois did not pay students to maintain a “B” average. Thank you Georgia state lottery funding, i.e. Hope Scholarship.
My mother did send cookies and write notes that were pretty much always the same except for the type of cookie in the box…
Sherra,
Here are some snickerdoodles. I hope you are getting some rest.Love,
Mother
I should have scanned one. I have them all.
Thanks Mom.
And Mom…
I’m still trying to get some rest but your pumpkin is keeping me up late.
