2008 August

Aug 30, 2008

What we’re doing this weekend

It’s 3:49 p.m. on Saturday, and what are we up to? Well, I am currently lying on a bed, blogging. But…

Chad (my husband), his brother (Wels), and their dad (remember, these guys?) are 3 hours and 49 minutes into a 24-hour Mountain Bike Race. That means that from noon today until noon tomorrow, all kinds of ~~crazy~~ industrious bike-riders are making their way ’round and ’round a grueling course that goes up and down the sides of a mountain.

Each course lap takes anywhere from 1 hour & 15 minutes to 1 hour & 30-some minutes, at least now, toward the beginning of the race. The pace might be a teeny bit slower by late tomorrow morning. Chad and his cohorts will take turns doing laps for these 24 hours, although I’ve heard there is a plan to take a short break during the bleakest of the overnight hours.

Meanwhile, the boys and I are alternately cheering them on, reading books, napping, snacking, and walking up and down the sides of said mountain.

Here’s Chad, zipping along one of the downhill sections. It’s blurry because he’s so fast.

And here’s C., keeping me company on the rocks while I waited for Chad to zoom by.

And now I must go. I can only get WiFi internet access from the bedroom, and only if I’m close to the window. But it’s time to put the laptop down and see what the rest of the world is up to.

Filed Under: Family 5 Comments

Aug 29, 2008

Inbox Psychology

written by katrina · 13 Comments

I have ~~a problem~~ ~~an issue~~ something to say. I like my email Inbox to be empty. As in: zero emails sitting in it. Clean, white, pristine. Emp.ty.

Naturally, this rarely happens. Every time I check my email (and I can assure you that I do so ~~billions of~~ several times in any given day) at least one email pops up, usually more. And I love getting email. I’d much rather read and write emails than talk on the phone, and I maintain more than one friendship primarily via email, so seeing a friend’s name arrive in my Inbox makes my day.

But still, at the end of the day, I’d like to have the Inbox empty. I almost never make that happen. Some replies have to be pondered before they can be sent. Some emails have to sit in my Inbox until I can act on them (and I’ve tried sticking “deal with in 3 days”-type emails in other folders, but if it’s a truly important issue, I need to have it sitting right in front of me or risk forgetting all about it). And some days, I just run out of time and/or mental energy before I can deal with and respond to all the email.

But when I do, when I answer or handle every single email, when my Inbox says “0 items,” I love it.

So what does this say about me? (And “You’re weird” isn’t an option.) If I didn’t know me, I’d be tempted to say that I am obsessively neat and like to have my environment spotless and clean. But all you have to do is drop by my house unexpected to learn that this couldn’t be further from the truth. In real life, I feel no compulsion to have things — such as my bill-paying pile, my nightstand, my counter, my coffee table — empty and pristine. I mean, I don’t like piles and piles of stuff — that stresses me out too — but my laptop is usually on the coffee table, you can’t see my nightstand due to all the books, and the kitchen counter currently holds my planner, a half-eaten bit of Easter chocolate, a bottle of Children’s Motrin Cold, and some Purell Hand Sanitizer. And I’m fine with that.

So it’s just the virtual world where I like things to be all neat and clean.

Maybe that’s the connection though. My physical surroundings will never be spotless. With a husband, two kids, a cat, and, you know, life to live, I need access to things (like ~~chocolate~~ hand sanitizer). I enjoy having books around. I don’t want to have to dig out my planner every time I need to glance at it. Life goes on, and since I’ll never get everything done, I’ll never have everything put away. But in my little email Inbox, it’s actually possible to have everything put away, everything handled, everything dealt with. Maybe that’s why I like it. Who knows?

And now, what does it say about me that I’ve written an entire post about the fact that I like an empty Inbox? (Once again, “You’re weird” is not an acceptable answer.) Or better yet, how do you feel about your Inbox? Do you let emails accumulate, and just ignore the old ones? Do you deal with each one as it comes in? Do you have an elaborate email folder system for filing your emails? Or have you never really thought about it?

* This post was originally published on April 10, 2007.

Filed Under: Purely Random 13 Comments

Aug 28, 2008

Technology: It makes me look more normal

written by katrina · 12 Comments

I’m going to tell you a secret.

I talk to myself. Regularly.

And I don’t just mean I say “ouch” if I stub my toe. No, I mutter and mumble to myself on a semi-consistent basis. I’ve been known to rehearse conversations that I’m dreading or nervous about while driving. I exclaim over the poopiness of certain poopy diapers. I scornfully tell myself to “watch out for that coffee table” after I stumble into it. And if you were to follow me down the aisle of the grocery store, and if I believed that I was alone in that aisle, you might hear me quietly saying things such as, “I can not believe the price of Grape Nuts” or “Oh come on, where do they keep barley around here?”

I’m personally okay with this ~~wack-o~~ endearing quirk of mine. But I suppose it could lead me into embarrassing situations. I often wonder what people in other cars think when they pull up next to me at the stop light and I’m right in the middle of, “…and furthermore, you need to understand that…” And if someone snuck up beside me at the grocery store, my sudden exclamation over the condition of the tomatoes might cause them to look askance at me.

Or maybe not.

You see, technology is coming to the rescue of ~~crazies~~ self-conversationalists like me. Let me give you an example.

Several months ago, I was meandering through Wal-Mart. I paused to compare the prices of two competing products and noticed that the lady next to me seemed to be doing the same. We both stared at the shelves intently, silently…contemplating. Moments ticked by.

Then, out of nowhere, she let out a, “HAHAHAHA!! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! NO WAY! SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?!” And I only put that in Bold Caps and included the obnoxiously excessive punctuation for the purpose of literary integrity. That is exactly how she was talking. ( Apparently she didn’t get the memo about using our inside voices in Wal-Mart.)

Anyway, after I landed back on the ground and realized that I wasn’t having a heart attack and that my heart rate was gradually slowing back down, here were my thoughts, in order of occurrence:

- I know! I can’t believe those prices either!
- Hey this lady talks to herself, too. Except she is really loud about it.
- Does she realize that I’m standing right next to her?

All of those thoughts hit my mind in a split-second, and immediately after they passed through, the lady continued talking. “Oh, girl, seriously, I just can’t believe she’d say something like that. You should have told her what she could do with her opinion…” and then she walked off.

Slowly, the realization hit me:

[Let me just pause here to say that while I consider myself fairly knowledgeable in the area of technology, cell phones and their accessories are one area where I remain woefully ignorant. My cell phone is eight years old and hardly ever sees the light of day. So while other people would have figured all this out right away, it took me a minute or two.]

Anyway, the realization hit me: Despite the fact that she was gripping her shopping cart with both hands, she had to be talking to someone. She must be using some kind of technologically advanced gadget that was connected to her cell phone. She wasn’t talking to herself; she was talking to someone else, someone who was probably in Target at that very moment answering, “I know it, girlfriend.”

Ever so stealthily, I followed Loud Lady, determined to catch a glimpse of her communication device. But despite all my maneuverings, I wasn’t ever actually able to see the contraption. I later did some research and discovered that some things called “no-boom bluetooth headsets” for phones are teeny-tiny and could easily be concealed amidst an ’80s-style haircut. Which the Loud Lady had. So, I’m guessing she had one of those nifty things.

Huh.

And here I was, worried that people would think I was crazy because I talk to myself. Now I know that they probably don’t even think I’m talking to myself at all when they see me jabbering in the most unlikely of places. They must just assume that I am very, very hip and that I have some ultra-cool, ultra-small, ultra-chic headset thingamajiggy. And I’m just going to let them go on thinking that.

* This post was originally published on February 8, 2007.

Filed Under: Fun 12 Comments

Aug 27, 2008

Wordless Wednesday

written by katrina · 11 Comments

First Day of School,
stack o’ school books at the ready

To visit more Wordless Wednesday participants, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

Filed Under: Family, Wordless Wednesday 11 Comments

Aug 26, 2008

What’s on Your Nightstand, August edition

written by katrina · 25 Comments

I’m participating with the gang over at 5 Minutes for Books again today, where they’re asking the question, What’s on Your Nightstand? I’m not taking the question literally this time around, so you won’t get a picture of my nightstand. (Trust me, though, you don’t really want to see a picture of it today. Let’s just say that many of the surfaces around here could use some sprucing up.)

But I will tell you about three books that I’m either reading now or have recently finished.

First up, I’m reading through The Mysterious Benedict Society with C., my 9-year-old. We’re moving slowly — we often only have 10-15 minutes each evening to read together — but we’re reading it aloud together nonetheless. When I first suggested to C. that we read this book, he gave me a skeptical look and asked what it was about. I read him the back-cover blurb and told him that I had read a review of it at another blog and it sounded great. He wasn’t convinced. “Sounds boring.”

Well, when we stopped for the first night, because it was bedtime, he asked if we could please, please read a little more. Yep, he was hooked. And honestly, so was I. This book is well-written and pulls the reader in right from the start. We’re only about 100 pages in so far, but can’t wait to find out what happens to the gifted children who’ve been recruited for a very dangerous, but very important, mission. Check out Carrie’s blog for a thorough (though non-spoilery) review of The Mysterious Benedict Society. C. and I highly recommend it, and will most likely be reading the sequel next.

In my personal fiction reading, I’m about 3/4′s of the way through The Dead Whisper On. My opinion of this book? It’s weird. Dead people whispering to living people. But then you wonder, is it really a dead person whispering? And there’s some bizarre human-like creature called a golem that is made of clay and apparently cannot be destroyed. Like I said, weird. I’ll finish it — I’m intrigued enough to wonder how everything is going to turn out. But it’s still weird.

Before I wrap things up, I have to mention the last fiction book I read: The Host. The Host is about aliens taking over the world, and one alien / host body combination in particular.

(I know what you’re thinking now: Katrina only reads strange books about aliens and dead people. Not true. Usually, you can find me reading boring old mysteries about non-alien living people and non-whispering dead people.)

I picked up The Host after seeing it highly recommended by my friends Jennifer and Lisa. They were right on target; The Host was a fantastic book. Once I got past the halfway point, I almost couldn’t put it down. And once I finally finished it, I couldn’t start another fiction book for the next five days, because I wasn’t ready to move on. Whenever I do that, you know I loved the book. (Oh, and I cried quite a bit toward the end of the book, even though I recently told you I hardly ever cry over fiction anymore.)

The author’s website tags the book as “Science fiction for people who don’t like science fiction” and I think that’s very accurate. I don’t mind some science fiction now and then, but when you’re reading The Host, you’re not even thinking about genre — you just want to know what’s going to happen to the characters you’ve grown so attached to.

Suspenseful, engaging, action-packed, The Host was my favorite novel so far this year. I did a little digging and discovered a rumor that the author, Stephanie Meyer, is working on a sequel to it. You can bet I’ll be pre-ordering that one.

So that’s what I’m reading. What about you? Click over to 5 Minutes for Books to read about more nightstands, or link up your own post.

Shameless Plug: The Fall Into Reading 2008 challenge will be getting underway here at Callapidder Days beginning September 22nd. All you have to do to participate is set some reading goals for the fall and then work toward them along with the rest of us. Check back September 8th for all the details!

Filed Under: Books/Reading, What's On Your Nightstand 25 Comments