Word-smithing

I sent the following email to my dear friend, Nancy; a woman who has the most wonderful way with words and is an editor/writer in her free time. I decided to open it up to the hordes of folks who hang on my every word as well...

Two things...

1) Have you come across "grammar girl" in iTunes? I'm addicted. She is my hero. The frustrated Engligh-teacher inside of me has scads of lessons all worked out in my head using Ms. GG. Sadly, in my head they shal remain because I am pigeon-holed into the job of trying to teach a group of hoodlums who do not want to learn. That discovery, however (GG) leads me to question #2...

2) Do you have the difinitive explaintion for why people should use "finished" rather than "done"? My friend in college put it in terms I simply cannot use with my students, namely, "Turkeys and whores are done; people are finished". I try to use "batch of cookies" to replace the more colorful terms, but would love to find the actual reasoning behind this rule.

Any thoughts??

The latter quirk in the English language is really a sticking point for me. In the same manner as "can I go to the bathroom" leads to "I don't know - it sounds like a personal question to me", I am forced by some unseen entity to rephrase my students, and even waitstaff, when I hear "I'm/Are you done". Its nails on a chalkboard to me. And while I can explain pet peeve #1 (can/may) I am stimied at done/finished. I'd love some ideas on that.

Speaking of words, I do have something to be quite thankful for. (and yes, reader, I intentionally ended a sentence with a preposition. So shoot me already... there are times to sound proper and stuffy and there are times to just write, and this is no time for stuffiness) Christopher is gathering words into his little vocabulary with amazing speed right now. He loves to name off body parts (head, ear, toe, shoe) and is trying to name his toys as well.

My thankfullness comes in the form of the word "TRUCK". I am thankful that at this tender age he is not even going to attempt the /tr/ phoneme, which is far too advanced for him in an articulation sense. His brothers all tried it way too early in life, meaning I held my breath in fear every time they played with a truck. God forbid someone, such as an orderly, should ASK my dear sons what they were playing with, such as a truck, in a public place, such as a hospital waiting room. Because, the Jensen boys are more than willing to answer questions when asked, and they answer with gusto - and you can imagine the looks I got from those answers...

No - Christopher veers away from his brothers in may ways. Not the least of which is the fact that a "truck" to Chris is simply a "tuck".

Thank god for small favors. Or phonemes...

5 weeks - coming out of hiding now...

Its been about 5 weeks since Easter - I try to be better at this than I turn out to be. Good intentions, and all that...

I've decided the last quarter of school each year is basically a wash of insanity, exhaustion and frustration. It started 3 years ago - it's the same now. To go into detail would just exhaust me again, but let's say that being a "tenured" teacher ain't all its cracked up to be. I've been pigeon-holed into a job I want to get out of, and it appears I am stuck.

In these 5 weeks, we fostered a BMD pup for a family going through a very rough patch. Bentley made fast friends with Schooner and we were all pleased to see that she actually grew up when she was no longer the baby in the house. Keep your fingers crossed that it's a one way street!!

To top off my somewhat foul mood, we have had temps over 100* for the last 3 days. Eventually, we will get used to it and 104 will be a welcomed relief from 118, but in the interim we are all hot, sweaty and cranky. Me, probably most of all.

I was sidelined with a foot injury about a month ago - I developed Plantar Faciitis in my right foot. I am now seeing signs that I may actually HEAL someday, but I've been unable to run and that has really not done good things for either my overall demeanor or my waistline. I am both pleased and somewhat amazed that I am still comfortably in my "one size bigger than I want to be" shorts so no too much damage has been done. I started back this last week on the treadmill and so far so good. I've said a million times that I will let my head, not my ego, determine how hard I run. One day I might just remember to do that!

While not running, I have gotten back on my bike lately, and that's been good. As a Mothers Day treat for myself, I explored a new land - the famous Scottsdale Greenbelt. It's roughly a 2.5 mile ride TO the Greenbelt and then I rode probably another 4 miles or so down the belt. Its lovely - makes you forget you are in the desert - grass, lakes, trees, shade... I thought at first I went about 11 or 12 miles, but I generally keep a 15mph pace on flat roads, and this was flat. I'm thinking it was closer to 13 or 14 miles. Now that I finally got my little GPS gadget to work, I will be able to actually TELL you just how far, how fast and how hard my heart worked in the process...

I love numbers!!

Happy Easter Everyone

Just loved the picture from Easter and wanted to share with my 3 readers... I hope each of you had a blessed Easter or Passover.

A Date!!!

Steve and I went out, by ourselves, to dinner on Thursday. In most parts of the world, I think they call that a date. Its been so long since the last time we were out together, sans enfants, that I could be rusty on my terminology.

I feel compelled to confess my food-choice sins, as Nancy is being so open and honest about her poor choices, and confession is good for the soul, and misery loves company, so I hope that, at least, Nancy feels better after reading this...

Now, before I go into full-blown confession mode, let me please, for the record, state that: I have been running regularly of late, except for the last 4 days while I am waiting for my shin to stop hurting. Additionally, with Steve's parents here and my going back to work, I have been leaving all meal preperation to my mother in law, who, God bless her, has been making sure the family gets fed at night. Beggars cannot be choosers - all thought about "light and fit" meals have been tossed out the window lately and I am revelling in "midwestern fare". This negates all good things I have done while running. Or, not running...

Back to my date. We went to The Keg, and had a most delightful time. I threw caution and calorie counting to the wind. My meal consisted of: 2 large shrimp with cocktail sauce, Ahi-tuna appetizer, 5oz of my 9oz filet that was smoothered with scallops, more shrimp, asparagus spears and the most amazing Bernaise sauce, a twice-baked potato and topped off with something lucious and smothered in chocolate.

The waitress was delightful, and even asked if we were "finished", rather than the all-too-often used "DONE", which just chaps my Grammar Girl hide to no end.. and the ambiance was lovely.

I'm sure I will need to run a marathon to undo all the damage from that one meal, but every now and then its SO worth it to live large and enjoy. Life is short. It flies by in an instant... to quote Steve's hero "If you don't stop to look around every now and then, you might miss it."

Sleep well, sweet girl...

Sad day today. It was a day I knew was coming, and yet still was harder to face than I had imagined.

We had to say goodbye to Maddy today. She lived for 9 years and 3 months. Old by Berner standards, but not nearly long enough.

Touted by all who knew her as the worlds' greatest dog, she was kind to everyone, well mannered, sweet and loving, protective and fiercely loyal. I have no doubt that, if the need had ever arisen, she would have laid down her life for any one of us. She gave us everything she had to give, and asked only for a cozy spot next to us to sleep.

But in the end, we had to do what was best for her, regardless of how painful it is for us. She was suffering, and clearly in pain. Wasting away literally before our eyes, she was no longer able to wag her tail - pain or exhaustion, or a combination of both prevented that. She was not able to be the dog she had been, and looked at us as if to ask us to make it all stop. This morning, I could take it no more. The vet agreed with my take, and she will be burried in Mom's yard, next to her brother, Spencer.

We will miss you, Maddy... There will never be another dog as amazing as you.

Swiss Star's Great Expectations, aka Madison.

January 9th, 1998 - April 2, 2007.