Do these glasses make me look fat?

I’ll never forget the day it happened.  Almost 27 years ago to the day, I walked in to my first middle school class and was seated alphabetically . . . at the back of the classroom.  It was an English class and the teacher, Mr. Parkin who to this day remains one of my favourite teachers ever, wrote his name on the chalkboard.

And. I. Couldn’t. Read. It.

The words were blurry.

It’s a day that I should have seen coming . . . given my genes and all . . . but I was still in shock.

Somehow I was able to hide my blindness until the school had their annual eye and hearing exams for all the students.  Failing miserably, a letter was sent home with instructions for my parents to make an appointment with the local optician.

With only one NHS optician in my hometown, you can imagine the selection of frames I had to choose from.  Thus, my first pair of glasses resembled a cross between Deirdre from Coronation Street . . .

. . . and  Sally Jessy Raphael.

The shame of it — those ugly, peach glasses gave this awkward, amazon teen nightmares.  For a long time!  I quite rightly hid them and squinted until I was finally allowed to get contact lenses!

As I grew older, I continued to ignore my specs. . . in fact, when I was forced to pick out a new pair I’d literally take seconds to do so and then they would spend years tucked away in a drawer somewhere only to be brought out when I was suffering terribly from some malady or another.

They were all pretty bad taste with styles that varied from Harry Potter . . .

. . . to Ugly Betty.

But, with age comes a wiser, less vain momma . . .  yes, the older I get the more I find I’m wearing my specs.  And let’s face it, glasses are so much easier to wear than contact lenses are to stick in my eyeballs!  I now treat shopping for new glasses like I’m on the hunt for a new, cute accessory or outfit, however unlike when trying on some clothes, you can’t really ask if glasses make you look fat.

Or can you?

I take a little more time these days looking for the perfect pair of glasses . . . scouring the ‘net, looking through fashion magazines and window shopping.  I randomly visit optical shops trying on glasses after glasses and have been known  to ask some poor, unsuspecting, bespectacled fashionista what style they are wearing.  And, I try not to think of that gawky 12-year-old who sat at the back of the class . . . squinting at the chalkboard . . . covertly wearing those ugly ass glasses when she absolutely had to.

For my latest pair, I was going for the Tori Spelling geek chic look.  Minus the pigtails!

So, I ask you . . . do these glasses make me look fat?

Bicycle FAIL . . .

So, there’s been a lot of excitement in our house today . . . no, unfortunately not the happy kind.

It started with me waving my boys off to school on their bikes.  Moments later, there was a knock at the door and I opened it to find my oldest son there . . . one look at his face and I knew something was wrong.  He could barely get the words out, but managed to tell me that my middle son had hit a bump on the road and gone over his bicycle handle bars and hit his mouth.

Bad.

I feared the worse when he told me “and, there’s blood everywhere.”

I quickly ran out to the van and got round the corner to see my baby sobbing and pushing his bike down the sidewalk towards home. 

I got him and his bike home, cleaned him up and applied the obligatory bag of frozen peas to help with the swelling.  Thankfully, the blood wasn’t quite as bad as I was led to believe . . . oh the dramatic mind of a teen . . . but, he had chipped both of his beautiful front teeth and also scraped his chin, knee and lips.

Without hesitation, our dentist agreed to see him.  She put a temporary bonding, or band-aid if you will as she explained it to him, and said all will be okay.  He now has an appointment in four weeks to permanently fix the teeth provided his  mouth heals perfectly.

As soon as the bonding was put on, I could tell he was feeling better . . . although it hurt to smile  . . . he was much happier leaving the dentist than he was walking in there.

And, I am left wondering if he hadn’t inherited my goofy front teeth, would he have injured them the same?

Wordless/Wordful Wednesday . . . The Halloween Edition

There once was a little boy . . . who thought he was a puppy.

And, when Halloween came around, what did he want to be for that annual hallowed celebration but a puppy, of course!

Alas, this was not the year for puppy costumes . . . but his Grandma . . . . the most amazing, loving Grandma ever . . . made it her mission to find the cutest puppy-like outfit that she could.  She spent days scouring stores until with only hours to spare before his Halloween party, she came upon the most perfect puppy costume.  Excited, she presented it to the little puppy boy who promptly told his exhausted Grandma . . .

“No thanks. I want to be a pirate.  Just like my bruvver.”

No matter how his mummy and Grandma tried to coerce and bribe the little puppy boy in to wearing his new puppy Halloween costume . . . he was having none of it.

And, off he went . . . to create his own pirate costume . . .

. . . so he could be just like his brother.

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Random Tuesday Thoughts . . .

Random.  . . defined as proceeding, made, or occurring without definite aim, reason, or pattern.  Yep, that pretty much sums up my Random Tuesday Thoughts.

• I took my boys to see the movie Where the Wild Things Are last week.  I could get all deep on you and say that I think the wild things represented the uglier parts of humanity or perhaps Max’s personality, but I won’t.  Enough said.
• I’m waking up very early these days.  What’s up with that?  Is it because I’m getting older?  I mean isn’t that what you do when you get old?  You wake earlier and earlier to go catch that early bird special or something?  I should go for a regular early morning work-out, but I don’t.  Maybe tomorrow . . . coz today I have an appointment for a blue rinse.
• Soccer aka footie season officially started last week for my oldest son and his first game is coming up this weekend.  I can’t wait!  I love being a soccer mom and sitting on the sidelines cheering my boys.  My middle son decided he didn’t want to play soccer this season though — he wants to try flag football.  Thankfully, that doesn’t start until January so their games shouldn’t overlap too much.
• I took my oldest boys for their annual doctor appointments . . . apparently both passed the hearing test portion with flying colours.  Hmmm, wonder if doctors should actually start doing a listening test?
• Lately, I’m enjoying the reruns my local PBS station has been airing of the Vicar of Dibley –it’s hilarious and I love the jokes at the end of each episode.  I forgot how funny and talented Dawn French is which reminds me that I really must read her new autobiography.

• Anyone who was alive in the 80′s remember the series V?  Well, I loved it and am looking forward to the remake that starts next week!

• Last week, my OCD finally kicked in and I succumbed to cleaning up the farm that my youngest son had started on my Facebook account.  I’d ignored hundreds of those Farmville requests until I took a look at the sorry state of crops and just had to intervene.  I must confess that it’s now hard for me to let him play it now.  I know.  Mean mummy!
• Did you read the latest research about the ‘net?  Evidently, it’s good for your brain!  Yeah!  No more guilt trips for mindless internet surfing, right?

So, how did you enjoy my proceeding, made, or occurring without definite aim, reason, or pattern thoughts?  Definitely no aim in the above drivel!  If you have any of your own and would like to join in, head on over to The Un Mom and link up.

Musical Monday . . . Gambler

So, this week’s Musical Monday is an oldie but goodie that goes out to my hubby . . . Gambler by Madonna.

This past weekend, he competed and took 1st place in his first individual pool tournament!  He walked in expecting to get knocked out in the first round, but kept winning . . . and quite possibly annoying all the other higher ranked players.

They never saw him coming!  Hehe!  My hubby, the pool shark!

Gambler, gambler

Chorus:

I’m a gambler, and I will take you by surprise
Gambler, I’ll aim this straight between your eyes
Gambler, yeah I know all the words to say
‘Cause I’m a gambler, I only play the game my way, yeah

Don’t want to say this but I think that I should
I’m better off forgotten if you think that I’d be good
One day you see me the next day I’m gone
Don’t fight me baby I don’t want to hold on
I’m a gambler, a gambler

You’re not happy with the way I act
You better turn around boy, don’t look back
You’re getting angry, you know I can see
You’re just jealous ’cause you can’t be me

(chorus)

Intermediate:

You can’t stop me now
‘Cause I’m right and I’m making advances
Let me show you how
Tonight, I’ll be taking my chances
On you, on you, on you, on you, that’s right baby

I’m a gambler, gambler
You understand what I’m talking about?

(chorus)
(intermediate)

I’m a gambler, a gambler
Gambler, ’cause I’m a gambler

You can’t stop me now
I’m on the road baby I know how
You can’t stop me now
Oh no

You can’t stop me now (repeat 3 times)

‘Cause I’m a gambler, yeah I’m a gambler
That’s right baby

The Circle of Life . . .

So, I have to send out a huge thank you to that blessed Disney movie The Lion King for without it I would not have know quite how to explain away the buffet that took place yesterday in front of my two youngest children.

While we were waiting for my oldest son to come out of his piano class, we noticed a few birds hovering and flying about.  We had great view from the interior of my van and enjoyed this spectacular scene of nature for a few moments until I spied exactly what they were up to . . . road kill.

A dead squirrel to be exact.

Right in front of my van.

And, no before you get all up in arms, it wasn’t me that hit the poor deceased squirrel.  It looked like it had been dead a while what with its poor limbs all stuck up and all.

In fact, can we please have a moment of silence for that poor squirrel?

Anyway . . .

I distracted the boys and started messing with my blackberry when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the feasting begin.  I immediately looked for my boys so as to shelter them from the macabre incident taking place, but it was too late.  Both of them were staring . . . wide-eyed, mouths open . . . unable to look away.

Innocence lost.

I sighed and asked them to look at me so I could see how traumatized they were.

“That’s kind of nasty to see isn’t it boys?” I said scrambling for something profound yet funny to change the somber mood.  I suddenly heard the great words of Elton John’s Circle of Life song and managed to say “It’s life though.”

My middle son must have heard the same thing as he piped up, “Yes, it’s the circle of life.  That squirrel will feed the birds mum.  It’s life.”

“Yes, hun.  You are so right.” I replied.

I looked at my littlest man and asked him if he was okay and he said in a very wise tone, “I okay mummy . . . those birds are just hungry.”

My children are very wise indeed.

An a-MAZE-ing Family Fun Outing . . .

So, it can be said of me that I love all things fall in the USA.

Pumpkins.

Pumpkin patches.

Halloween.

Pumpkin muffins.

Thanksgiving.

With average October temperatures in the 70′s, it’s kinda difficult to really get in to the season when we are sweltering at the pumpkin patch.  I’m usually longing for the cooler weather of the north to make its way down to us . . . and this past weekend I got my wish.  We took advantage of the lack of humidity in the air to squeeze in a family fun outing to the local corn maze which is now in its second year.  It was far busier than it was last year . . . I guess the word had spread . . . but thankfully there was a tonne more activities for the boys to keep them occupied while we waited an hour to get in to said blooming maze do.

The only grumpy one was the littlest guy as he had fallen asleep right as we pulled in to the car park and would have none of waking up until he saw all the hay bales and fun that was to be had.  The boys all got along just lovely . . . it was a day with no squabbling, quarreling or fighting . . . they stuck together with each helping the other out . . . well, besides all three of them wanting to collapse the hay tunnel, but I have to give it up to them . . . mischievousness aside, they were working and playing together!

And, they even let the Mamarazzi shoot away to my heart’s content!

We ended up taking too long in the corn maze and missing out on the last hay ride of the day!  I was a bit gutted about that, but the hubby wasn’t . . . oh well, there’s always next time!

Musical Monday . . . Your Ghost

For this week’s Musical Monday, I’ve chosen a song I first heard on Grey’s Anatomy . . . it’s a beautiful song called Your Ghost that was originally written by Kristin Hersh, but this cover is by Greg Laswell.  I kinda like his version better.

Given my last post regarding the Tantallon Castle ghost, this song is a fitting follow-up!

Enjoy and if you want to link up with your Musical Monday choice, head on over to Diane’s and join in!

If I walk down this hallway, tonight,
It’s too quiet,
So I Pad through the dark
and call you on the phone
Push your old numbers
and let your house ring
til I wake you ghost.
Let him walk down your hallway
it’s not this quiet
slide down your receiver
sprint across the wire
follow my number
slide into my hand.

It’s the blaze across your nightgown
it’s the phone’s ring.

I think last night
you were driving circles around me.

I can’t drink this coffee
til I put you in my closet
let him shoot me down
let him call me off
I take it from his whisper
you’re not that tough.

Photo Hunt . . . Anything Goes

This week’s Photo Hunt theme is anything goes, so I’ve chosen this photograph I took during our summer trip to Scotland of the gnarly rocks of Tantallon Castle.  The castle was built on the rugged cliff tops facing the North Sea not far from Edinburgh and is truly spectacular even to this day!

It seems appropriate what with Halloween almost here that I share this recent news story with you.  I hadn’t read this at the time of our trip otherwise I probably would not have let my older boys explore the castle on their own!!

Blog Action Day 2009 . . . Climate Change

Okay, so maybe I’m a day late and a dollar short with my post for Blog Action Day ’09, but it’s here nonetheless.

If you’re wondering what Blog Action Day is, it’s a yearly cyber-event that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the goal of raising awareness and opening a global dialogue.

This year’s blog action day was October 15, 2009

This year’s issue is a biggie and one that affects us all.

Climate change.

Climate change can be defined as any change in the average weather or a change in weather events across the whole earth occurring over a period of time that can range from decades to millions of years.

There are those that believe that we have no climate change or that it is simply a cyclical occurrence.

I believe that climate change is very real and that it is happening now.

Over the past 20 years that I have lived in Florida, I have seen our summers here get hotter and longer,  I have seen our lakes dry up and I have seen fierce tropical storms.  And, I believe these are all symptoms of climate change.

It is time for us all to act.

Now.

I know what it is like from first-hand experience to live in 100-degree weather without air conditioning to cool us down.  After Hurricane Charely hit us in 2004, we were without power for four torturous nights.  And, if that is any indication as to where our climate’s rising temperatures are headed, we need to all do something now.

I believe that something lies in building a world comprised of sustainable communities.

It’s easy to say use your car less when you live in a town that is walkable or has mass transportation, but I’ve found that the towns and cities over here are so spread out that it’s near impossible.  So, I think what has to change in this country is a move toward sustainable communities . . . which means:

• constructing sidewalks and bicycle lanes,
• allowing corner shops to be build within our neighborhoods,
• building smaller neighborhood schools that children can walk or bike safely to
• and having dependable, safe and affordable mass transportation.

If we modify and rebuild our towns and cities then a lifestyle less dependant upon using vehicles can be adopted and as vehicles contribute to greenhouse gases the leading cause of climate change, a difference can be made.

It’s not to late to join in on Blog Action Day . . .  after all it is about mass participation.  All bloggers are encouraged to join in and there is no limit on your number or type of posts.