Facie’s Ramblings

Last night, while my kid was (very slowly) getting ready for bed, she announced those words above. I was in the next room and had no clue what she was talking about, although the day before she asked me what V with three lines means (referring to VIII). So I walked into the hall to find Jordan standing in front of the full-length mirror, clearly pretending to wear a toga. I laughed out loud and said, "Oh, you are pretending to wear a toga. You are funny." Then Jordan asked if I was going to put that on Facebook. Of course I did (the exchange, not the picture). When I asked her today how she knows about togas and the Romans, she said she saw something about it awhile ago in a show called "Time Warp Trio." Good to see there are (or at least were) some educational cartoons out there (but for my money, "Phineas and Ferb" rules!). Seven is an interesting age. My kid is so much more independent. She can actually play by herself for an hour or more (I realize a...

Have I mentioned on this very blog how much I hate vacuuming (I was never big on calling it "sweeping" as many other Pittsburghers do, FYI)? When I was pregnant with Jordan, it hurt my back too much to do the vacuuming (actually, I kind of did want to write/say "sweeping" there...), so Brian willingly took over. Fortunately, he got used to vacuuming, and he kept right on doing it the first five years of Jordan's life. Cue happy, serene music. Now he typically was not as good as it as I was; he would rarely move easily movable furniture around. And he tended to break out the attachments to clean corners and ceilings only once a month. On a good month (he will beg to differ, I am sure). As a result, he was often done vacuuming our three levels in about 20 minutes, so it was not a big deal, really. But the important thing was I did not have to do that much dreaded chore. Not surprisingly, soon after I was out of work, Brian handed the reigns (or, rather, the ho...

Can I tell you, again, how much I hate the job search process? I had a second interview scheduled for yesterday, for a temporary (about five months) full-time position. This potential job has been causing this household stress because although so far it is the best-paying job I have come close to, once I have to start paying for childcare this summer, we will most likely come up a little short. Of course, the optimist in me figured we would somehow work out the money situation (maybe Jordan would stay home one or two days a week since Brian works from home). And as I said to hubby, coming away with some money is better than nothing (since I obviously cannot sub this summer). Plus this job could end up becoming permanent (the woman I would be taking over for is going on maternity leave, so you never know). But I would be working full time, something I had not done since the day before Jordan was born. And juggling drop off and pick up, plus Jordan's many school days off, would f...

As I have mentioned before, I put some thought into my blog post titles. Sometimes I try to make them witty (so I like to think) or at least interesting. I read about a half dozen or so blogs on a regular basis (meaning I check them most days of the week), and I read another half dozen or so when I am willing to spend the time (probably more like once per week or less often). On top of those, I sometimes check out the blogs that other people link to. And what gets me to click on that link is an interesting (to me, anyway) post title. I don't care so much about getting a lot of people to read my blog; I write it for myself. But I am not going to lie. I find it satisfying, gratifying, something-fying when I see that people have actually stopped by to read my blog and especially to post comments, particularly when I have written something that I am hoping someone will either testify to or at least make me feel better. And I often wonder what makes those people, aside from my "reg...

Last night, there was some turbulence in our house, for lack of a better word. The impetus was food (and actually not my cooking, surprisingly). Things were said, and I eventually got so mad that I left. Drove away. After first telling my kid that I loved her and kissing her good bye. Up until I was a senior in high school, my parents almost never fought. From the time I was born (or from the time I could actually start remembering things) until I was in my mid teens, I recall only three fights my parents had. They seemed pretty bad at that time, and I still remember a few details from each, but the other thousands upon thousands of days of my life, my parents were pretty happy together. We had a really great family life. Unfortunately, things started to go a little south my senior year in high school before getting worse my freshman year of college. I actually don't remember things being as bad my sophomore year, but that was the last year my parents were together, so... Why a...

I heard today on the Fan radio station that it takes some people weeks to get over a big loss like the Super Bowl. I don't think even in my most devoted, fanatic days it took me more than a few days, thankfully. When the game ended on Sunday night, I was fine. Really. Honestly, I had felt a little guilty throughout the game, thinking how it is kind of unfair that the Steelers were in the Super Bowl for the third time in six years, and that they (we!) had won it two times in four years. Shouldn't someone else get a turn? Of course, that is not how it works. Life is not always fair. Clearly I should never coach or own a sport teams. Etc., etc., etc. But I went to bed happy for the Packers. Unfortunately, I woke up once in the middle of the night, remembering that the Steelers lost, and I felt a little sad. When I woke up for good the next morning, after 7:30 a.m., thanks to that stupid two-hour delay, I thought about the "things always look better in the morning" ph...

Two Steelers-related things are on my mind, and not in a good way, I am afraid. First, my kid's school (as well as the city schools and others, I am sure) is on a two-hour delay Monday. Found this out last evening. Why? Well, because of the Steelers game. It may have to do with administrators' concern that kids will have stayed up late and thus be too tired to learn anything. A few parents said they heard it was because bus drivers might be hungover. One or two suggested that it might be for the teachers and parents as well. Here are my thoughts on that matter: The game should be over around 10. My guess is that the majority of the kids who will stay up to watch the game don't go to bed much earlier than that anyway. And for those who normally go to bed earlier? They probably will be okay staying up a little later for one night. If not, then parents should not let them stay up for it. Jordan certainly won't be up past halftime, mostly because she does not care enou...

I don't mean literally looking up, though it has been nice to look up and see the sun in the sky for at least a couple of hours these past few days. I read a blurb in Parents magazine about a study some Dutch scientists conducted regarding optimism. I don't know too many of the details (it was just a short paragraph, after all), just that according to their research, people who are optimistic have a 30 percent lower rate of dying from heart disease than their pessimistic counterparts. According to the mag, to help this optimism along, you should try to think of one happy or positive thing that happened to you each day. Many years ago (maybe 10), a former coworker/current friend and I made ourselves come up with five happy thoughts each day. I think we tired of that after a couple of days, or maybe we just ended up being redundant, so we stopped. But the concept is a good one. In fact, most days I try to think of all the good I have in my life, even when I feel down. When I...