It's a Snow Day But Claire Gave Me Homework

Given this LOVELY snow day, Claire at www.ukdesperatehousewifeusa.com has tasked 11 of her fellow blogging friends with 11 questions. I would grumble but this is kinda fun & a good way to get to know each other. And let's face it, Iron Bridge is closed. :( Bloggers often stick to their comfort zones in their subject matters, so this is a little injection of variety!

1. What advice would you give your brand new blogging self now?


This one is EASY. I said it to my husband recently. Not every post has to be long & in depth. Keep it simple, stupid! The KISS methodology of life!

2. What four words would you say to your 18 year old self?
I have 2 - Ask people about themselves & Choose your words carefully.

3. What three things do you think define you as either a Brit or American?
1- As an American, I am a cultural mutt & my family doesn't really have any traditions. Like at Christmas, we get a tree & put presents under it. But it's pretty plain vanilla.
2- I am loud. I am definitely that girl at the bar whose laugh rings out.
3- I used to think this country was the greatest - our freedoms are so great. But lately, I don't believe that anymore and I hate the arrogance of Americans.

4. Which TV show character are you and why?


Bernadette from the Big Bang Theory

Luke picked her. According to him, she's smart, she says what she believes, she's chesty and she's a good yeller. 

5. Apocalypse Now or Mary Poppins?
BOTH! Really! Here's why: On our first date, Luke & I discovered that BOTH of us had written papers on Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.


The story is that Francis Ford Coppola did not credit Joseph Conrad's book about the Congo for the inspiration for Apocalypse Now. The journey of Martin Sheen is so lifted from Conrad's story and the original didn't give any homage to the book. What were the chances of Luke & me writing about this? Spooky coincidence.

But totally Mary Poppins too! Julie Andrews was my idol as a child with her reddish hair and her singing chops. I had dreams of being her when I grew up! And Mary Poppins was the FIRST musical I saw on Broadway. The Little Mermaid was supposed to be the first, but as we were on the train to New York Penn, I called my parents. They said, Aren't you going to be late for the show? I said, No, the show's tonight. They went back & looked at their email - I had bought matinee tickets! CRISIS!

Did you know that kids under 5 years old cannot go to Broadway shows with a few exceptions? Luckily, Mary Poppins had recently opened and being a Disney show, Lil was able to attend. Wow, that was a nerve-wracking phone call from a train!

6. Are white lies okay to tell? Please elaborate!
I have to admit, yessss sometimes. Telling a person they look OK when they don't...like when you know they're having a bad day. Or when someone asks you if you think they're fat...the answer is ALWAYS NO!

7. Whether you are a parent or not, what are the three most important things about raising a child?
1- Encourage children to take risks by giving them tools to assess the level of risk.
2- Knowing their "tell" - like when they're lying to you.
3- Being open & honest with them. I don't hide news from my daughter. I showed her the 9/11 videos of the planes in the WTC when she was 7 although I did tell her not to talk about it with her friends. She asked some questions and the only way to answer was to show her. I don't turn off the news when she comes in, except in abjectly horrible cases of sexual violence. When the shooting at the mall happened, we told her the truth. (Also, the nonstop hovering of helicopters & police presence around our house required it.) We don't dwell on it, but we don't hide it.

8. Favourite swear word and why?

I say s*it a lot. The F-word gets dropped a lot too. I swear a lot actually. But the F word is more crass IMHO so I try to limit that one. Oddly enough, the kiddo actually thinks "jerk" and "stupid" are bad words, so I'm obviously not influencing her that way.

9. If you could have one super power what would it be?



I'm torn. Matching socks would be awesome. But flying would be great so that I don't get jet lag when I travel across the pond.

10. Worst holiday experience ever.


I can't be completely honest about this...so I'll pick something else. Luke promised me snow at his childhood home in Hallstead, Pennsylvania for Christmas in 1998. Turned out that it was snowing here. And Christmas Eve is really important to me...I have a huge family so we've always celebrated both Xmas Eve & Day. Luke's family is tiny & they don't really do anything on Xmas Eve. I was really sad. Obviously, that was the LAST Christmas we ever traveled to Hallstead. We do sometimes go to Pennsylvania to my cousin's house on the Gettysburg Battlefield.






See the white house in the back? And that's my cousin's husband second from the right. They live there on Seminary Ridge. When it's snowy, it is quite haunting to behold the desolate battlefield where so many lost their lives. One can't help but feeling the presence of ghosts.

11. Elevator pitch to the Huffington Post, no more than 30 words, for your blog….. 

Well, I'd start with my title! Kirstycat's Meow and sometimes Growl! Insights into the quirks of life in the richest county in the US, helping to build the Howard County blogging community and spreading the word about local happenings with an eye to the greater Mid-Atlantic area.

Now for my 11 questions & my 11 blogs:

1. What famous person would you be thrilled to find out reads your blog?
2. What famous person would you be flabbergasted/furious to find out reads your blog?
3. What scares you the most about getting old?
4. What physical infirmity or deformity makes you most uncomfortable and why? (I think mine is the smoker in the anti-smoking commercial I just saw.)
5. What lie from your childhood that your parents told you is the most memorable and/or scarring?
6. If you could make one law for your state/city/country, what would it be and why?
7. What was your best job ever?
8. Who is your longest friend? What has kept you together?
9. What relative that died before you got to know them would you most want to know?
10. What is your guilty pleasure? (Please keep it G-rated!)
11. If money were no object, where would you travel?

http://selfishmom.com/

http://53beersontap.typepad.com/53beers/

http://lisabmrss.blogspot.com/

http://www.growingupdisney.com/

http://mickeygomez.com/

http://househoney.blogspot.com/

http://evinok.net/

http://fromhiptohousewife.com/

http://www.busylibrarian.com/

http://columbiacompass.weebly.com/

http://www.erikarobuck.com/

Christmas Vacation Vegging

A friend’s Facebook posting yesterday made me feel guilty for what I’ve allowed my almost 10 year old to do a lot this vacation. Veg. Watch TV. 5 episodes of ANT Farm in a row in one morning. Headphones on watching Austin & Ally on her new iPod. We gave her the Disney Infinity Xbox game and my hubby & I played with her on that a little bit over the past few days. Oh, and Facetime with her oldest friend. (They gave each other tours of their houses…a little odd since they’ve been to each other’s house.)

But…

Ever since she was born, I’ve treated her as a person, not as a child. Meaning that people have different needs at different times. When she was an infant, we specifically messed with her schedule. The thing is, life doesn’t always happen as scheduled and learning how to adapt is important to my husband and me. Sometimes there's an accident closing down 95 and you have dinner an hour late. Stuff happens and the ability to adapt quickly to the situation is crucial. I also want her to say yes to opportunities that are outside her comfort zone. She has learned well and when confronted with a change of plans (whether from us or others), she acts just like my husband - a couple minutes to ruminate and she's on board. 

We started traveling with her at age 4 months - her first cruise on Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas out of Baltimore. (Don't tell my Papa Bill - he thinks we've only been on 1 cruise without him...) She loves to travel and adjusts quickly to new challenges. We see so many parents that lock themselves in their house once the baby is born...that's not us.

For one thing...

Luke & I worked a lot. He moreso than I, so the demands of his schedule made me step back from my career. Although I don’t do it anymore, I worked 60 hours/week many times in my career. Granted, I’m an accountant and it’s not like I was saving lives in an emergency room. But I did have to be “on” and when I got free time, I enjoyed it. I needed down time. I needed to watch TV and distract myself. But we definitely had a "Work Hard, Play Hard" philosophy. 

Lil has worked hard for the past few months. She performs with Ballet Mobile, a non-profit classic ballet troupe that visits retirement homes and rehab centers to lighten the residents’ hearts. She practices for many hours each week. At school, she tries to help out teachers and other students. Luckily, she completes her homework quickly. But she’s doing a lot of above-grade level work and there’s a lot of pressure at school and she places a lot of pressure on herself to perform well. 

And sometimes we contribute to that...So…

I want her to chill out. She had one performance during the break, but no practices/classes. (Although she dances everyday regardless of venue…) But I wanted her to play with her new Christmas gifts and enjoy the lack of schedule. She embraced vacation – few expectations of her, apart from putting her breakfast bowl in the dishwasher. She got her first pedicure. She did crafty stuff like her rainbow loom. But she did watch a LOT of TV & worked on her YouTube search abilities for Disney Tween content. She danced to the music on the TV, set up little forts on the floor and the best was her sweet giggles when she laughed.

Today was a little different. We were cleaning the house, putting away laundry, preparing dinner and we only played 2 games of Clue with her. She had wanted to finish the gingerbread house and play Apples to Apples with us. When I told her it was time to finish her Facetime chat, she responded, “It’s only because you haven’t been playing with me.”

Which means…

Christmas vacation is over! (But possibly to be followed by a snow day on Friday!)

Crazy things that happened today

While putting away the laundry today, I got distracted by my old jewelry box. I lost a ring a few years ago and still believe it must be lovingly stored. While I didn't find the ring, I did smell that lovely scent of my jewelry box. The musty, old velvet (fake), maple (?) odor arose and I remembered going through my mom's jewelry box. I would try on her necklaces, bracelets and look at the broken pieces that she kept in hopes of later repair. I found my grandmother's emerald bracelet today. I hadn't looked there for a couple of years & finding this was like the lost treasure. My heart raced - because I hadn't shared it with Lil. This is her namesake, Annunciata's, bracelet. It's at least 70 years old. Annunciata wore it. My mom wore it. I wear it. Lil will too. And when she realized who it belonged to, her eyes widened and understood that connection. My heart broke and repaired simultaneously.

The other amazing thing was that my cat Chippa curled up next to me. She was originally a feral rescue although the woman said she was part of a litter from an inside gal who escaped one night & met a nice tomcat. She started out as a fun-loving cat - she'd reach out for anything moving on a TV or monitor and watched the printer the second it started prepping the print job. But something happened to scare her 10 or so years ago & only in the last year has she been slightly ready to be close to us. And tonight, she curled up.

I have always found my cats to be more cuddly when it gets cold. It was 28 when I parked my car at Iron Bridge and that doesn't include wind chill. When I put Annunciata's bracelet on today, it was so cold. But I looked at it & said, emeralds get warm. And it has.

May those who seem cool become warm.

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