11.06.2009

So....... So, So Random

---- So tomorrow is the Youth Hunt for deer season here in good ole' Arkansas.  And Keaton just informed me that he didn't want to hunt because he doesn't want to "hurt the deer."  I quickly put that conversation off on his daddy and am now waiting anxiously for it to take place.  Really just to see the husband's face.  Him being so into animal rights and all. (Just ask our 3 legged dog and the deer he hit with the truck....they're voting him in as the next PETA president, for sure.)

---- So the other day the boys and I were elbow deep in school books and flashcards, and my phone kept ringing.  And ringing.  And ringing.  I usually keep my rule about not answering the phone during school, because I the children have attention issues, and if I get on the phone then I the children forget all about the education of their little brains.  Anyhow, the phone kept ringing.  And ringing.  And the caller i.d. said that it was my parents.  After the 76,456th ring, I decided that I had better answer it, because it was beginning to ring like an emergency.  So I answered the phone expecting the worst.  Well....it was.....

JIM-DAD:  (said with extreme panic) Amb? 
ME:  Yah?
JIM-DAD:  I need help!
ME: (thinking along the lines of falling and not getting up)  What????
JIM-DAD:  I'm on FaceBook, and Randy is trying to chat me and I don't know what to do!

I will now be answering to "Geek Squad."

---- So the next day my daddy calls me back.  To thank me for introducing him to wide wide world of internet chat. 

Dear Jim-Dad,
You're welcome.
Love,
Geek Squad

---- So I'm going to try to be very respectful of my fellow homeschoolers out there, but I just cannot go another day without mentioning the oddities that I'm experiencing.  I realize that I seem as strange to them as they do to me, and I'm not claiming normalcy by any means.  It says a WHOLE LOT more about me than it does them that I find these things odd, but I will tell you that I am in shock awe of folks who are actually able to get their offspring to eat things like chickpeas and wheatgerm and goat cheese.  And that people raise their own chickens for eggs...and live smack-dab in the middle of a neighborhood not on Old McDonald's farm.  And that people don't believe in cheetos.  And chocolate.  And plastic.  And microwaves.  I'm in awe.  Really.  In awe.

---- So I just saw on television a story about a couple who were in bed sleeping and a car slammed through their wall and landed on them.  That is scary.  But thankfully they were wearing clothing.  And I am tucking that story away for all the people who argue that you should sleep..ahem...comfortably.  Hello!  A car could smash through your wall at any given moment while you are sleeping.  Wear clothes.  The firemen who come to rescue you will thank you.  This has been your Rascal Raising PSA for today.  You're welcome.

---- So this post may just be the best post that I've read in a very very very long time.  Tiff's words are powerful and meaningful and encouraging.  If you are a mom....go now.  NOW.  This is an order.  LOVE.HER.LIKE.CRAZY.   What?  Did you miss the link??
Go HERE.

---- So I had someone comment the other day about my lack of correct grammar and punctuation in my posts.  And they were curious about my lack of grammatical discernment because my history is in teaching..uh...Grammar.  Um...my answer to that is that I know my way around a gerund phrase and can identify dangling participles with the best of 'em.  And I really do sit around and diagram sentences just for fun (you think I'm kidding, don't you?  I'm not.).  I just choose to not do it here.  Because this is my place to chat.  And I write like I speak.  And though I understand that fragmented sentences, extreme usage of ellipses, and prepositional phrases lacking appropriate objects bothers many of you....they don't bother me.  So continue to write like this, I shall.  Thanks for asking!  And a big conflicting pronoun antecedent to ya!

---- So I'm heading into the bowels of my kitchen in a few to clean up dinner from two nights ago.  Goodness....I heard your "Oooo, gross"s and "Nasty"s from here.  Don't be so judgy.  I've been busy.  Fieldtripping with folks who eat figs for dessert; watching Grey's Anatomy; and rockin' my groove thang in Hip Hop Dance Class (watch out, Beyonce!...that's all I gotsta say!).  So I'm just now getting to scrubbing the crockpot.  Hey...you knew my domesticky (props to the HighHeel Mama Who Wants To Gag Me With Carrot Juice for that word!) wouldn't/couldn't last forever!

Off to the bowels....and possibly to diagram a sentence or two....

15 comments:

Jim said...

Amb, er "Geek Squad",
I really do appreciate you being my "tech chick" for chatting. I make contact with Randy clear on the otherside of the world and it was great! I don't know what I'd do without you girls to hep.out.yer.old.man.lack.yew.dew!

As to your grammar, I was told by an author/publisher not 3 months back that when you're writing a story, WRITE THE STORY, and don't worry about all of the grammar and technical stuff. The important thing is to get your story down. If you want or need to correct it for o.fish.all publication, you can do that later. I thought it was good advice. And personally, I get a lot of joy out of the way you write because I just like communicating with who you are, not who taught you your English Composition. It's good to know you know about all them thar rules, so's you can teach 'em to yer rascals, but talk to me out of yer Amber side.

I have a feeling that your blogeeps like your approach. Am I right, chall?

I love you cuz yer U! And yer smart, too!

Jim-Dad

lisa@littlesliceoflife said...

Oh girlfriend, you make me laugh!

I haven't heard anyone use the word 'gerund' in too many years to count. And 'dangling participle' still makes me giggle like I'm 12. I love that you diagram sentences for fun.

I also love that you haven't done your dishes in two days. (I'm fondly remembering my banana pudding trifle bowl...)

Has Caitlin been proselytizing her animal rights' views to Keaton? Kirk is going to ban her.

Also, I left the "five" part out of your bloggy address and it goes to another blog...and I thought "Oh, Amb has changed her blog design again." And then I saw the very first sentence started "D*MN!" And I thought you'd really lost it.

Turns out it was just me.

Kendra said...

What? There are people who don't believe in Cheetos? Weird homeschoolers!

Tiffani said...

I am CRACKING UP HERE!!!!

Girl, you just SHOWED UP on the grammar front, YAYUH!!!! ;)

We have some strange homeschoolers here as well but I just do what I feel is best for my fam....

Thanks for the shout-out and those words were all for my ears but if someone else can feel better about bein' a Mama by reading them, then that's even better.

Um, we discussed my spaghetti dishes (still there, btw) ;) THIS is one of 2093842093840298394832 reasons I love you.

Nina Diane said...

no kidding Amber. I heard that story about the car slamming through those folks bedroom. And they were pinned...oh my. any firemen rescueing me would have to shield their eyes...in my stretched out tank top...haha

Mandy said...

I have a B.A. in English, made an A in a class called Systems of Grammar and I still cannot manage to use proper tense through an entire blog post!

Oh, I cannot point a finger at just cleaning-up from two nights ago. When I was preparing supper earlier, I found something unidentifiable in a pot on the stove. We finally figured out it was cocoa from THREE WEEKS AGO! It was beyond disgusting. There were nasty things living in it. If the pot didn't cost over $100, I would throw it away! So, no finger pointing at nasty kitchens from me . . .

Mich said...

Laughing...

Love ya!

Jessica said...

Amb,

I find your posts to be a bit Junie-B-Jones-ish. And I heart me some Junie B. 'Cause you can hear her talking right off the page and that's how I feel about your blog! To heck with proper English! I'm down with the vernacular! (And with not cleaning your dishes right away. Sometimes LIFE is way too important to worry about dishes in your sink. Sorry, Fly Lady.)

<3 ya!

Jess

Andrea said...

Yay! I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who neglects her kitchen a time or two...or three...or four. :)

Carpool Queen said...

I loved diagramming sentences and I can't wait for the kids to get to that part of their education.

Remind me of the preceding sentence when I blog about tearing my hair out helping my children with their homework.

Jackie said...

Oh, Amb. I have SO missed coming by here - just finished catching up on your last, um, 15 posts, and you never fail to make me laugh.

Kirk as president of PETA - yep, I can see that happening. :)

Don't ever change the way you write! I have no doubt that you are the Grammar Queen, but if you started WRITING like the Grammar Queen, it wouldn't be nearly as entertaining. That's why we all love you. :)

Jessica said...

i hear ya with the grammar. keep on keepin' on. and not believe in cheetos?! that's just wrong. and I'm ashamed to say, I got ya beat on the dirty dishes.
Have fun diagramming sentences! Do you use the Shurley method? =)

Gretchen said...

--What's a gerund? Still like me since I don't know?
--I don't like wheatgerm
--I don't like figs
--I love goat cheese, especially on pizza. In France.
--I could never sleep neekid for that very reason... what if...

Gretchen said...

In 8th grade, I had to diagram the Preamble to the Constitution and the first sentence of the Declaration of Independence.

At one time, approximately 26 years ago, I knew every part of speech and written language there was to know.

And now it's 26 years later, and I start sentences with "and", use way to many commas, and end numerous sentences with dangling whatits and whosits.

Lurve you. Lurve your writin'.

Yule {b}Log said...

So I thought I'd check out the blog of the gal who is stealing my BFF Cathy away from me. ;)

I like you already because... hello... you homeschool! I'm breathing a little happier now. Why? Do I dislike non-homeschoolers? Nahh... it's because I found a connection... because Cathy is all mine. ;)

I really like figs. And chocolate. By the way.