Random Thoughts on a Wednesday

So, we got our Census form in the mail yesterday. I don't know what I was expecting, but certainly more than just the names, birth dates and nationalities of the people who live in my house. And what's up with the race thing? They asked about having Hispanic origins, but didn't include Hispanic under race. Huh?


It's been nice and warm the last few days - in the high 50s to 60 - but really chilly at night. The result of this is that the puddles in the driveway ice over each night with a thin scrim of ice. Xander loves to stab these with his baseball bat on the way up to wait for the bus. (I know, more violent tendancies. He even calls it "bleeding the puddles.")For myself, I like stepping on the bits of ice that sound like broken glass. Yes, I'm weird. :)


While getting his coat on this morning, Xander asked if he could see Joe's golf hat. I was all like, huh? Daddy doesn't have a golf hat. Xander pointed out the one he wanted, which is the Scottish cap Joe picked up somewhere years ago. I told Xander it was just a Scottish hat, not a golf hat. He informed me that all Scottish people play golf. Good to know! Xander topped that off with a little jig around the foyer.

And finally, I would just like to say Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The Trouble With Pictures

My life somtimes seems to be controlled by pictures. I'm forever taking them, and scrapbooking them. I have untold photo albums. I have boxes, ziploc bags and random drawers full of photos. It's a nightmare.

I was reminded of my love-hate relationship with pictures just this week. I want to scrap my grandparents' 40th wedding anniversary from back in '88. I knew I had a bunch of pictures, it was just a matter of finding them. Some were in my photo box, in the '80s bag. Others were inexplicably in the '91-'00 bag. A few others I tracked down in various other locations, and yet I knew I was still missing some pictures, including this one:

Seriously, I was losing sleep over this. My frustration knew no bounds. And where did I finally find the missing pictures? Tucked into a photo album with other random '80s pictures that I'd totally forgotten about. Grr.


Now that the matter of the anniversary party has been settled, I'm faced with another. A stack of pictures from 1987 that feature my brother, my mother and I in a park-like setting that has no name. Mom can't remember, nothing was jotted down. Come on! I tried Googling a park with a Buddah in it, like in this picture, but to no avail.


Still I slog on. I'll have to put in another call to my grandparents, who have been teasing me with their old pictures. They were going to bring them for me to have (albums, people, whole albums!) the last time they came to NY, but there wasn't room in the car. Say what?? And they keep telling me they'll go through them and send me some when they get a chance. Hello! Retirees! Nothing but time! Sigh.


And hey, if you have any pictures I might like, feel free to send them. I'll add them to one of my many piles or CDs or albums!

Feeling Techno-Savvy

So, I was thinking today about how much technology has changed since I was a kid. Joe had said the other night how lucky Xander was to have his DS, since we didn't have hand-held games when we were kids. And then we had those big, brick-like Gameboys (Tetris, anyone?).



These days it's unusual to find someone that doesn't have a cell phone (even if they don't use them much, like me). Heck, Joe has a Blackberry that he reguarly goes online with. My own humble little Tracfone takes pictures, for goodness sake. We've got DVDs, CDs, MP3 players, the DS, and of course the trusty laptop. Because e-mail isn't quick enough, now you can text or twitter. (I have sent exactly one text!)


When I stop to think about it, it's pretty crazy how much technology has changed since I was a kid. Back in the days of Apple IIe computers and dot matrix printers, when cell phones were huge and portable music either pumped out of a "boom box" or a big ole walkman. Even just using this blog to keep up with my family - who'd have thunk it?

I can't wait to see how much will be different when Xander is ready to go to college. What new advances will there be? How much more confounded will I feel at times, dealing with all this electronic stuff? Maybe by then I'll be able to remember to charge my cell phone!