A Girl's Guide to Misfriendship

My title contains an unword, I know, but somehow that unword describes the most recent dramatic events in this household.  In case you did not know this, girls can be pretty cruel.  Not my girls, but other girls - out there- in the world, so to speak.

My girls are pretty sweet, and probably too sweet for some people.  When you get to about the second grade, you are finding some new shades of friendship.  You are meeting girls who make friendship feel like an encounter with the Dark Side.  Combine this encounter with a pretty sweet girl who feels guilt just thinking mean thoughts about another person, and you are sure to have some heartbreak.

So, as for this mom's advice to her earnest daughters, I have these reminders:

1.  Still waters run deep; choppy waters don't.  If you have a lot of ups and downs with a girl, consider sailing your boat in clearer waters.

2.  Yelling "sorry" at a friend has never counted as an apology and it never will.

3.  When a girl breaks your personal moral code, you need to get some distance.

4.  Be tough around mean girls - they are manipulative and enjoy your tears.  When someone accuses you of being too sensitive, it has usually been preceded by their mean spirit and harsh anger.  Meanness can be conquered in time, but tears just fuel their fire.

I do not look forward to the next few years where you will find yourself matched up against strong frenemies.  Just trust in the people who never let you down and expect little from the ones that do.

Poetry Memory of Darby Franks

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!


The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!" from the poem Jabberwocky

I post this poem excerpt and this old photo of Darby from when she was six as an illustration of how different my children are, and how alike they look.

Clones.  I bore clones.

But never once did Roxy memorize poetry.  Roxy appreciates poetry, but Darby consumes and digests literature and poetry, then memorizes it forever.

Darby was introduced to the poem Jabberwocky by my sister.  At age six, it fascinated her and baffled me.  I did not get it.  I do not get the same aptitude scores that my daughter gets, because apparently the nonsensical poem made perfect sense to my six year old jewel.

But now it gets a little weirder.  Darby stills knows the poem and she is 11.  Sitting in a movie theater yesterday, trying to translate some of the dialogue from "Alice in Wonderland," I heard Darby begin this poem.  The movie includes most all the elements from this poem, which is an excerpt from a Lewis Carroll book.  Darby then points out the other things from the Jabberwocky poem that have been used in the movie.  I am impressed that the movie is staying true to the spirit of the original work, but I am baffled, once again, by my daughter's ability to pull knowledge gleaned years ago and apply it to something currently in front of her. 

What sounds like jabber-gobbledy-gook-wocky to me is pure poetry and art to her.  Darby, you go girl.

A Small, Hairy Connundrum

There is one person in our house that wants a pet.  She wants a pet so much she has practically transformed herself into a canine.  The father of the house has become increasingly concerned about the behavior of this daughter.  The realization of the importance of pets just hit him yesterday as he was standing in the daughter's room, surrounded by small furry animals, small furry animals on posters, small hairy animals on piles and piles of books, and the realization that there is one toy in the daughter's room that is not plush.

Scott:  Is she normal?
Sheree:  I think she is.  She is very cuddly and loves animals, so that is what she collects.
Scott:  Is is normal for her to STILL act like a dog?
Sheree:  I don't know.  Maybe...
Scott:  Should I get her a pet for her birthday?
Sheree takes in huge gulp of air. Somehow she finds words to continue:
Sheree:  What are you saying?  Are you saying you want a pet?
Scott:  No.  I don't want a pet, but should she have a pet?
Sheree:  I need to remind you that there are only two rules in our house: 1)Don't tickle daddy, and 2)No pets.
Scott:  I know.
Sheree:  I need to remind you that when we were talking about our future together as man and wife, I told you I wanted children and anything less was a dealbreaker.  You told me you never, ever wanted pets and that I should not be with you if I wanted pets.
Scott:  I don't remember that.
Sheree:  I do.  And I am not making this up.  We really did have this conversation.
Scott groans.
Sheree:  Maybe I shouldn't tell you about how Roxy has decided to pretend to be a dog when she bathes.  She wants me to shampoo her and trim her nails like a pampered poodle, and she wants to run away and shake off water droplets like naughty dogs do.
Scott groans again.

Roxy, you may be able to land the whale, to boldly go where no Franks' gal has gone before - to get the better of your daddy.  Just grind him down to a pathetic nub and you will get that dog!  You're almost there!

In Like a Fluffy, White Lion

Today school was dismissed early (again) due to snow.  So far this year (all two month of it) we have had double the normal amount of snow for Georgia.  At this rate, I would not be surprised to get snow again in April.

Instead of our scary snowmen zombies, Scott and the girls built a snowfort.  Roxy quickly renamed it her penguin habitat and annoyed everyone by pretending to be a penguin.  So the snowfort was transformed into a mid-century modern sofa.  Roxy then morphed into a beaver that ate away at the sofa, evening out the lines.  The reason that you can't see any snow in our backyard is because it is mostly woods - a great place for the deer, the owl, and the possibly feral cat.  Scott, my dear husband, hauled all of the snow from the open yard space to the back yard, where we can watch our couch evaporate slowly over the next week.

Love the sofa.  But I think we REALLY need to get Roxy a pet.

The Almost Half-Full Cup

February just brings me down.  I say this easily, but let me tell you, I look forward to nothing in the entire month.  If it isn't the cold and the weather, then it is the high gas bill or a sickness or something equally...blah.

So, I decided that for a week I would try to list and focus on the good things, the blessings.  I was not going to focus on the stuff that makes me my natural pessimistic self.  Not that I don't believe in thinking positive, because I do in many situations.  But my natural response to things is ticking off the negative before getting around to the positive.  I try to do this in my head, so as not to negatively influence my girls or anyone else, but sometimes fighting against your pessimistic nature is tough.

For the most part, I did pretty good with my list of good things.  Yesterday was a tough one, though.  Maybe that was because I tried to extend my experiment another week...

Monday:  I finished a good book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  Really appreciated it on many levels.  I also enjoyed my Darby.  She remembers everything about Greek mythology, in detail, so she explained the lastest adventure movie, Percy Jackson and the Olympians:  The Lightning Thief.  (My pessimistic self would like to point out that just about everything else on Monday stunk.)
Tuesday:  got a good haircut.  Nothing is more positive than good hair.
Wednesday:  volunteered at the school and looked cute doing it, then had a mini date with Scottie.
Thursday:  watched Big Love.  Feel pretty good about myself considering how mixed up that polygamist family is.
Friday:  prepped for my Bible class.  I am always happy when I am ready for that one.  I also got to eat some yummy and free breakfast sandwiches.  And then, spent a couple of hours focusing on Channing Tatum in "Dear John."  I hope to focus on him again in the near future, because I liked doing that :)
Saturday:  went to the Ladies' Retreat.  Drove up, had some visiting time, then found a huge, glorious outlet mall out in the boonies of North Georgia that is well worth the drive.  Being that I have not spent a day away from my children in quite a while (like last year, Ladies' Retreat), this day topped my Friday good things.
Sunday:  Lord's Day.  It was all good, even the part where we all cleaned the house.  The clean house makes me so happy on Monday, and Tuesday, and all the other days after that.
Monday:  Made a new recipe in my dutch oven, and it was quite a yummy event.  Love my cast iron dutch oven, love my chicken and peppers in vinegar.
Tuesday:  Sweet card from my daughter.  And good news from the doctor, even though the wait and the copay nearly cancelled this one out.  Oops, the pessimist emerges yet again...
Wednesday:  I'm at a loss.  Where is my positive moment?  I found a spot on the ceiling, the wind was freezing me, had to pay some bills.  Yuck.  I guess the positive moment was my whole family sharing the guacomole I made at dinner.  When life hands you overripe, brown, squishy avacadoes, make guacamole.

I decided to take a vacation from my optimistic outlook today.  But I am happy to say, even though I am on a break, my cup is almost half full.

Happyness

I woke up to this card today, taped to my 'fridge.  Roxy, thank you for my happy moment today.  This is all I need :)

Thank You Dagwood - Another Sandwich Please

This morning Scott and I went to a research and development tasting of breakfast at our favorite sandwich shop, Dagwood's.  It is a very yummy lunch place and they make sandwiches that look like something Dagwood would eat, as in the Blondie cartoon.  Scott happens to eat at Dagwood's as often as possible, knows the whole crew, and scored us an invite to the breakfast tasting.

Yum.  Sandwich after sandwich of very good stuff.  Most everything is pressed, panini-style, of which I am a big fan.  They are featuring a pastrami-egg-cheese with Russian dressing sandwich and it is really, really good.  I have never had the opportunity to sample food like this.  But with applewood smoked bacon on everything, you can do no wrong with me.

Hopefully they will start the breakfast menu next week.  I recommend just about everything :)

http://www.dagwoodsatlanta.com/