Children and Technology: The Truth About Social Media?

I had a conversation with my 11 year old daughter, Shelby about Hurricane Irene last night at dinner. What she had to say made me giggle, and showed me that while the information age is great for spreading information, sometimes we need to make sure the info picked up by our children is accurate.

Here is a snipit of that informative chat:

Me: Wow, 10 inches of rain is no joke.

Shelby: They even had to evacuate New Jersey, the whole thing. That's alot of people.

Me: No sweetie, not all of New Jersey, just the Jersey Shore.

Shelby: (with a big smile): Oh, that's okay. They are all in Italy right now, anyway.

So there you have it. My daughter, the holder of all important news. *giggle*

Happy Monday!

Happy Independence Day Everyone!! (almost)

Getting ready to enjoy a long weekend with the family for the holidays, but also had so much I wanted to share before I went. Unfortunately, time is not my friend any more than Mr Murphy is. So I will say that I am happy and blessed to report the girls both did well in school over the past year. Casey, my oldest daughter, gave me a drawing I wanted to share. Some may see a familiar theme to the cover of a certain new book, Darkness and Light by J.A. Belfield (guest appearance on blog to come in August). That is actually purely coincidental. I named the piece Casey's Dragon.

Nice right? That's my girl :)

I hope you all have a wonderful Independence Day. (even though this post really had nothing to do with the actual celebration of the holiday despite what I named the post) To those of you that visit my blog from outside the US - have a fabulous day from the USA.

I'll marshmallow toast you all from camp. If I ever replace my broken digital camera, I might even share pics one day.

My Mother's Day Present: Shelby Glasses - Part 2

As my regular blog followers can attest, I have a rather unique 10year old daughter named Shelby. For Mother's Day this year, she didn't make me a homemade card like she usually does. Instead, she found a song to send me for Mother's Day. According to Shelby -- this is what I mean to her. (I can tell you right now -- the below video is classic Shelby).

Enjoy!

I Could See This Conversation Happening At My House.

Just a little Thursday humor. This was sent to me by a co-worker who knows my daughter, Shelby. This is something I could TOTALLY see her asking me.

Enjoy :)

Finding Time for Yourself

As a working, single parent, the idea of finding "me time" can be a bit daunting-- as anyone in a similiar situation can attest. In my world, me time = writing time. It is what I want to be doing when there is nothing pressing me in another direction.

My biggest issue however, seems to be guilt. Guilt over not giving the kids enough attention when I get home. Guilt over spending the evening with my nose in a laptop knowing my retired boyfriend has been home alone all day with nothing to do BUT wait for me to get home so he can chat with someone other than the dog. Some days my fingers itch to write, but I can't force myself to pick up the laptop because I know the look that will inevitably follow. I guess that would be self-imposed guilt?

This little dilemma got me thinking. There are a lot of you out there also carrying a workload, and a life outside writing, so I am turning the question to you all.

How do you find time to write?  Do you have a specific routine? Certain hours of the day set aside for writing? Do you feel guilty when you are shutting everything out while you pound through a new chapter?

How do you manage to juggle all the little balls without dropping any?

Mommy? Is there a Santa Claus

I am not sure how many of you out there are parents, but that wonderfully hectic time of year fast approaching.  This year, we spoke to the girls about the possibility of having a "toned down" Christmas in favor of saving some money and taking a family vacation to Arizona in February. 

My sixteen year old daughter, well aware of the truths of Santa, readily agreed.  My ten year old, however, had questions. 

It wasn't until I heard the questions that I began to understand the workings of her young mind.

Shelby: First let me ask, is there really a Santa?
Mom: What does that have to do with anything?

Shelby: If there really isnt a Santa, and you say were going to have a smaller Christmas, than that means we wont get too many presents.  If there is a Santa, even if you tell us it will be a smaller Christmas, Santa will still bring what he usually brings, so it will be the same as always.

How does one argue with that logic?

Mom: Ok... Shelby, you got me.  There is a Santa, but he only brings kids one gift.  The rest are from moms and dads.  So you will still get one, but the others you would normally get, wont be as big -- so you would get less under the tree, but we would take a nice trip in February.

Shelby: Then how come we get lots of presents under the tree that say from Santa, and only one or two from you?

Damn, got me again...

Mom: Well, moms and dads put Santa's name on the other cards because you are always so happy when you see lots of Santa gifts

Shelby: Isn't that the same as lying?

Mom: No, not exactly.  You asked if there was a Santa, not if he brought all those gifts.  So technically, mommy hasn't lied to you.

Shelby:  Ok, I guess Arizona would be fun, then.

I guess my question here is: When the heck did children get so dang smart and world wise?  Is it just mine?  Or are all ten year olds this savy these days? 

Man I feel old :P

Anything can be torture when you can't escape...

About three years ago now, I moved with my family to the country from the suburbs.  And for the most part, I love it.  This weekend, however, I learned that even the best laid plans can be torn asunder -- among other things.

This weekend, we took the girls, along with some friends, tubing on the Battenkill River.  This is apparently a pretty common activity for those that live in my area, as the river is very winding and slow moving.  It draws fisherman, kayaks and "tubers".  So we decided we would see what all the fuss was about.  It certainly looked like fun all the times we have driven past the river to see the groups of tubes floating down it.

We mapped our route on the river, rented tubes, left one car where we were planning to end our ride and drove the other two up to the start point.  We planned to be on the river about 5 hours and packed lunches and drinks for the ride.  We had prepared.

At the start, my friends spent a good deal of time berating me for not having done this before. "You have this practically in your back yard, and you have never done it before?  This is awesome!"

And admittedly, it was an amazing and fun ride down the river on a very sunny and hot day.  Perfection.  Our theme for the trip became -- We are making memories!

Well, it turns out, that what we thought would be five hours on the river became eight hours.  By the end of trip, we were all rounding bends in the river and praying desperately to see the bridge where we parked our car.  The funny thing about tubing, is that you really have NO CLUE as you are riding about where you are or how much further it is till the end.  Side note: 10 yr old children do NOT like being stuck in a river for 8 hours.  And "do you see a bridge, yet?"  and "Are we still getting slushies when we are done?" became the questions of the hour.  Oh, and two of us managed to loose our shoes during the trip. 

The theme of our trip changed at some point to -- "We are making memories, Dammit!  Shut up and enjoy it!" 

We finally made it to the car to learn that Pete had locked his keys to his car in one of the other cars, which was parked at the beginning of the journey.  So he had to hitch a ride with some other adventurers to the car to get his keys and drive one of the back to meet us and all the tubes that we still had to return, as we had rented them.

The tube rental place charged $8 per tube for a 5 hour trip.  We missed the fine print where they stated that you get charged $5 per hour per tube for being late.  So, when we arrived to return them, looking completely exhausted, waterlogged and VERY happy to have the river behind us. --they were not pleased and were looking for another $150 in fees for keeping the tubes out.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!  We finally settled on paying half of the fee and had to go to the store and take out cash to pay.

What a weekend!!  Making memories can be hard work!

Memorial Day Weekend - More Camping!!

Heading out tomorrow (after a half day of working) for a relaxing, fun-filled weekend of camping with the family.  I should have some great pics and stories to share when I get back.  With the girls coming along, it will be impossible not to.

We aren't taking a long trip this weekend, just an hour away to a campsite where one of my best friends has a seasonal site.  Thank goodness, as I don't think I can do another 12 hours in the car. :P

I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  Be safe and I will see you on Tuesday!

Miss Bucket Butt

Just thought I would share another picture from our prospecting adventure this past weekend.  I call this Miss Bucket Butt.  If anyone asked me what my daughter, Shelby, is like I can just hand them this picture. 

I've also provided a nice one I like to call - Camp Monkey (also courtesy of Miss Shelby). 

I think I could fill a book with her adventures, maybe I should give it a try. *ponders*

Enjoy. :)

The 49ers Still Exist

So I went gold mining this weekend...

That's right, I said gold mining - as in prospecting, panning for gold.

My boyfriend is retired now and this is the hobby he has picked up to keep himself busy, and he is really loving it.  So being the supportive girlfriend I am, I said I would go with him (and take the kids) to a weekend outing he was planning to attend in Marion, NC.  Twelve hours in the car later, we are in NC and I learn that the typical 49er does still exist and is not a figment of the past.  These gents come complete with a million interesting stories, full ZZ Top type beards and usually some knee high rubber boots.  Not a single one I met was anything but wonderful kind and more than willing to shre his knowledge and techniques with you, or let you see the things they had found over the years.

Their faces light up like children when taking about their mining adventures, friends made and lost, or any other mining topic you show a true interest in.  They are true gems and just a wealth of information for anyone, interested in gold propecting or not.

I had a great time learning, meeting a bunch of new people, and watching my daughters enjoy learning to pan and trying not to talk with a southern accent on the way home.

Here is a picture of "The Nugget Man" as he is referred to in mining circles.  (Check out the nugget he is holding - the thing weighs 2 pounds... think about that for a second at today's gold prices)

Just an absolutely fabulous and informative weekend.

Great weekend for my girls :) Gotta love that.

One daughter with the game winning 2 RBI sinlge in extra innings with two outs and bases loaded.  The other with an RBI single and a walk, as well as another win.  Summer is comming!  Camping coming up twice in May.  I can already feel the excitement and my level of busy starting to build. 

Really feeling positive about alot of things.