Monthly Archives: January 2008

dirty dishes: a stand-off

Posted on January 30, 2008 by wendy| 7 Comments

Well, we have evolved from pans to bowls….aren’t you proud of us?

Ode to a Bowl

We had a good dinner, a tasty stew,
The hubs had the honors and cooked with no crew.

We ate it in shifts, as we usually do,
I got to mine first, and he noted my coup.

He offered his scraps to the pooch on the floor,
She licked it so hard that she yelped out for more.

Now the sun has gone down and risen two times,
That bowl sits there still, unmoved and dog-slimed.

How long will this last, if I turn my eye,
Will he not scrub that bowl before I die?!

dsc_0005.JPG

Reader update: the bowl is gone and no one recalls picking it up! But it wasn’t meeeeeeeee.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Share

→ 7 Comments

Posted in marriage

Learn-A-Word Wednesday: gnomic \NOH-mik\

Posted on January 30, 2008 by wendy| 2 Comments

adjective:

Uttering, containing, or characterized by maxims; wise and pithy.

A long pause, during which the group reflects on this gnomic pronouncement.
– Ruth Shalit, “Send in the clowns”, Salon, June 21, 2000

Gnomic derives from Greek gnomikos, from gnome, “intelligence, hence an expressed example of intelligence,” from gignoskein, “to know.”

gnome_wideblog.jpgI know what you thought, but no, this doesn’t just mean someone short with a red hat.
Unless he or she is saying wise and pithy comments, apparently.

According to this definition, you can have gnomic gnomes.

Hey, is that what our kids are?

Just watch out for that pointy hat. They’re not afraid to use it.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Share

→ 2 Comments

Posted in words

nighttime, a scene

Posted on January 28, 2008 by wendy| 8 Comments

It’s bedtime. Time for potty, teeth-brushing and pj’s.

A door slams.

BAM!

(small female voice from inside the bedroom, shouting)
I’ll put on my pj’s, but I want you to stay OUTSIDE!

(pause)

So you won’t see my naked BUTT!

(larger female voice from outside the bedroom, shouting)
I MADE that BUTT, and I’ll look at it anytime I want!

It’s my life. Some days, I’m not real proud.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Share

→ 8 Comments

Posted in kid, life is good, parenting

caption, anyone?

Posted on January 27, 2008 by wendy| 7 Comments

dsc_0121.JPG

This is Becca. She likes birds. She hopes to grow up and eat one some day. So far, she gets this close.

Meanwhile, she’ll eat that post.

Feeling any captions coming on out there?

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Share

→ 7 Comments

Posted in animals, Bainbridge Island, WA

something I said?

Posted on January 25, 2008 by wendy| 2 Comments

Okay, bloggers, you surf, you read, you might even take the time to comment. And then, occasionallllllly, you might drift back to the place you commented to see if anyone else commented on your comment.

I said occasionally. When you can remember where it was. And when you feel curious.

So, you look and……you don’t see your comment! Gone!

enter_key01.jpgYou wonder, maybe I didn’t actually LEAVE the comment? Maybe I was interrupted before I hit submit. Maybe I only thought about it and didn’t really do it. Maybe Big Brother Blogger zeroed me out.

OR.

Maybe someone DELETED YOU! You and your precious, clever words (and you weren’t rude or obscene or anything–Oh, was that it? too boring?)! Are bloggers deleting just ‘cuz these days? ‘Cuz they don’t like your spelling? ‘Cuz they Have The Power?

The trouble is you can’t REMEMBER. About that pesky SUBMITTING part. And there’s all that WORD VERIFICATION stuff that you can never read. And maybe even MATHEMATICAL SKILLS required.

So, should you be mad and boycott that site forever and for always, use Barbie to put vodoo curses on them, and maybe even toss a little snarkiness their way blogosphere-wise? Or, should you go with the “maybe I didn’t actually LEAVE the comment in the first place?”

Should you be up in arms? Or, not.

I’m just asking.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Share

→ 2 Comments

Posted in growth, me-me-me, scratchings, venting

young love? I’ll pass.

Posted on January 24, 2008 by wendy| 8 Comments

Kid explained a recent problem at preschool with her good buddy, Jill (age 4).*

Jill is Sam’s girlfriend now and I don’t like it.

What does that mean, to be a girlfriend?

young-love-print-c10054982.jpgWell, Sam falled in love with Jill and Jill falled in love with him. And now she’s his girlfriend.

And what does that mean?

It means you have to sit together all day long. And not play with anyone else. All day.

Oh.

Too bad for them.

[*not their real names.]

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Share

→ 8 Comments

Posted in growth, kid

Learn-A-Word Wednesday: kvetch \KVECH\

Posted on January 23, 2008 by wendy| 2 Comments

adjective:

1. To complain habitually.
2. A complaint.
3. A habitual complainer.

They begin to look like malcontents who kvetch about the weather so much that they don’t notice the sun coming out.
– David Shenk, “Slamming Gates”, The New Republic, January 26, 1998

Kvetch comes from Yiddish kvetshn, “to squeeze, to complain,” from Middle High German quetzen, quetschen, “to squeeze.”

Do I need to tell you what this word means? The Seattle area is not really known for its bagels, blintzes or matzah balls, but kvetching? Oy!

Originally, the kvetching in our household flowed one way: out of me!

I’m not the complaint department! said DH more than a few times. If only that goy knew this word, he could have said, I’m not the kvetch department!

Now, Kid speaks. Add her to the kvetching. Why CAN’T my room be a Cinderella room now? This dress is SCRATCHY! The DOG ate my applesauce! Yes, I’ve proudly passed on another winning trait.

Also, notice the NOUN FORM above (#3)! I might have kvetched enough to qualify as BEING a kvetch!

But you kvetch, too, right?

No? Only me?

Oy! I feel a kvetch coming on….

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Share

→ 2 Comments

Posted in growth, marriage, words