Randomness [<--- is that a word?]

These flowers make me smile.

Late last spring, Alyssa decided she wanted to plant a garden and so she went to Target and bought packets of seeds. She then rummaged around under our deck and dug out some old planter boxes. She filled them with dirt, scattered the seeds, added some Miracle Grow, and placed the boxes outside my kitchen window. All summer long we waited for flowers wondering what her green thumb would cultivate. She ran off the squirrels hourly. She watered the dirt daily. And she moved the boxes from sun spot to sun spot every single week. By the time she left for college, she had pretty much decided that the squirrels had won the battle and that her garden was a bust because after three months, there were still no flowers in sight.

Not long after she left, I peeked out my window one morning and noticed a sea of tiny pink and purple flower buds. Alyssa's garden is finally growing! What a nice surprise, and what a special reminder that, although she is no longer living at home, her special touch remains.

Randomness (I really don't think that is a word!):

• High school is back in session. John is on day three. Unfortunately, on day two, he spent two hours in the vice principal's office. He took a stance, which was a risk, and ended up paying for it in spades - thus, his first visit to the principal this year. What gets me is that most of the time he was in her office (an office I am intimately familiar with, having attended more than one meeting there), she was attending meetings, so he sat alone missing chemistry and lunch. My question is this: why did she not send him back to class and address the problem after school? I don't understand how making a kid sit in an empty office gains anything - especially when said kid did nothing to disrupt or disturb classes in the first place. I'm all for appropriate punishment, and I don't dispute that John probably deserved just that, because it sounds like he was disrespectful in his comments to her. But I take issue with the fact that John was not allowed to attend his first day of chemistry class. In my mind, there is something wrong with how the situation was handled. For now, I'm staying out of it. But if this continues, I, too, will be spending time in her office.
• We have company coming next week. I like company and I am excited for their visit. I only wish I would have known about it sooner because getting ready for company is a month long ordeal for me. Remember last spring when I spent six weeks sewing and painting before my family arrived? That's what I like to do before people come to my home - I like to spiff everything up and give mini make-overs to the house. I won't have time to do that now because my company arrive in less than a week. I'm a tad bit stressed.
• Speaking of company... my vacuum is broken. Great timing - NOT! It needs a part, so there is no way it will be repaired prior to our company's arrival. I've got a back up vacuum, but it doesn't have attachments. Can I just admit that I'm stressing over this as well?
• And speaking of broken... my iPod is broken, which, in turn, breaks my heart. I'm having a difficult time getting jazzed up for a major "company is coming" housecleaning without the companionship of my iPod. Currently, we are looking into purchasing a program that will back up my iTunes Library. The program is only $20 - so it's a good investment - but if my iPod doesn't unfreeze long enough to pull up the library, the program is going to do me no good. Another little glitch in this plan is that I need to find 50+G of memory to store my back up library because that is how much stuff I have on my iPod. 50 gig is a lot! I think I'm going to need another external hard drive. This iPod boo boo is costing me more than a heartache.
• About heartache... my heart no longer aches over Alyssa's departure, and here is why: Alyssa is so happy! She is loving college and she is adjusting very easily. And in the end, that is all a mother could wish for. So after a summer of agony, I have come to realize that a happy college student makes up for every ounce of trepidation I experienced.
• No segue in to this, so it is very random... I am lacking in photo subjects and I miss taking pictures (thus the flowers and the picture of the dog below, I was desperate). How on earth am I going to keep my blog looking pretty if I don't have pictures? I've been thinking about this a lot and I've come to the conclusion that I need to start sewing and scrapbooking and crocheting again because dressing up the blog with inanimate objects is better than nothing.
• Sewing... one of my favorite subjects. The new season of Bravo's Project Runway is well underway. I TiVo the show every week and I watch the episodes over and over again. There is just something about this show that inspires me. If I were twenty years younger, I'd try out for Project Runway in a heartbeat. Heck, if I were twenty years younger, I'd go to Parson's School of Design just to learn how they do the things they do.
• TiVo... mine is working overtime on Wednesday nights. Thursday used to be the day for Must See TV. Lately, Wednesday has become my Must See TV. I've got Project Runway, Top Design, and last night a new cycle of America's Next Top Model began <--- okay, I know there is the tranny gimmick this season, but after watching the two hour premiere, I still think I'm going to enjoy this cycle. If they focus heavily on the tranny... maybe not... but the tranny can model... so who knows what they have in store for us.
• About Thursday being a Must See TV night... I've got it marked on my calendar in SHARPIE MARKER! The countdown has begun for the premiere episode of Grey's Anatomy, Season 5. Three words about that: I. Can't. Wait.

And that, my friends, is about as random as I get. Sadly, this is how my mind works 24/7. It drives John crazy. He tells me that I wear him out when I'm talking because it is so hard to keep up with the randomness of it all. And again... there's that word: RANDOMNESS. I'm pretty sure it's not a word, but certainly sounds good when describing my thought patterns.

One more random item - another picture. This time of my dog because she doesn't gripe and moan when she sees the camera. Misty's back has gone out again, so I took this picture holding her in my lap with one arm while I held the camera out with the other. I'm telling you - I am in dire straights when it comes to photo subjects right now. It's always bad when I have to resort to taking a picture of myself holding the dog.

Edited to add: I looked it up! Randomness is in fact a word. Who knew?

Comments

[Helena]

LOL! I was just getting ready to check dictionary.com. I guess I won't now!
The flowers are lovely. I am soooo bad with plants, but I have a potted petunia that I got at church for Mother's Day that sits on the kitchen windowsill and is actually still growing and blooming, much to my surprise.

[mary]

I knew that randomness was a word! It's also the way my mind works. I personally think it is a mark of creative genius. At least that's what I tell myself when my son says "what made you think of THAT?" at least ten times a day. LOL

[heather]

Hey you! Loving all the random info you gave us in that one post. ARGH on the VP visit. YIPPEE on Alyssa's happiness. . . . pictures, wanna come visit here? I STILL haven't taken pics of the girls in their dance costumes from JUNE. UGH. I could use the help! {grin} As for the iPod, sounds like you've got a frozen iPod issue -- if that's all it is, you can fix it! I've had to do it 3-4 times with my Nano. Try the directions here to get it to work: http://www.methodshop.com/gadgets/ipodsupport/restart/index.shtml

Hoping that will do the trick for you!

[slammie]

how about just random shots of things that make you happy? sewing machine, flowers, good cup of coffee, something you cooked for dinner, etc. doesn't have to be about the kids although that's what mine tend to be about, too. that and the vege "garden" that won't produce anything this year. HUMPH!

[pc smart]

you totally crack me up!!! i agree about the waiting in the office thing but it is rare that they do the afterschool sessions...i feel it is insult to injury to keep them out of class like that. about the photo subjects....try joining a flikr group! a friend of mine joined one in her city and she is having a blast!

[Kelly W.]

Kelly - You can just open iTunes on your computer and shouldn't need the iPod. At a minimum (and probably lots of time!) you could then back up to a disc.

I feel your pain - I can't clean a bit without music!