Cliff Notes

It was a 2008 Toyota Highlander Sport -- with leather and a moonroof. It was pretty white. It was on a Ford lot for under $24K. We test drove it and loved it but walked away to do more research. The sales guy called me that afternoon to give us the opportunity to "hold" it but we weren't ready to claim it for ourselves. It was snapped up immediately. Apparently, there were four other appointments to see it and then some drama over who could buy it. Because it really was a great deal.

And now I can't find another one like it anywhere.

In my newfound role as news benefactor, I wanted to share one more article that caught my eye. Although a legitimate news story, I think it could also fall under "news of the weird" because of the Elvis factor.

Hackers expose security flaws with 'Elvis Presley' passport, reports CNN. How did they get the King's passport?!

Seriously, though, this is kind of a hack job on CNN's part. Because these "ethical hackers" figured out the security flaw in 2008. Timely. To be fair, this sidebar bullet point hints at the reasoning behind this story:

"Passport security in spotlight after apparent use of false documents in Dubai killing." But that tidbit is nowhere to be found in the online write up or the broadcast version of the story. Hmmm....

Call me old-fashioned, but I'll stick with my newspaper(s). Even if sometimes it's online.

Yesterday's post was a bit disheartening. But this morning a story from The New York Times popped up on my iGoogle page like the first flower of spring.

Wanna read In Passage of Jobs Measure, a Glimpse of Bipartisanship? Here's a quote:

"Like Mr. Brown, Ms. Snowe said she did not think the measure went far enough, and she also protested the Democratic decision to bar any Republican amendments. But the senator, who was particularly supportive of some business-oriented provisions in the measure, said those concerns were outweighed by the need to show Americans that Congress was acting."

Good news.

This morning's Dallas Morning News ran two pieces in the Viewpoints section that got me thinking. The first, by Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr,. I recognized as truth, in a head-shaking kind of way. The second, by Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post, was unrelated but for subtle references to the plague of partisan posturing that is raging in our country.

You can read Pitts here. Highlights:

"... remember a time when facts settled arguments. This is back before everything became a partisan shouting match, back before it was permissible to ignore or deride as "biased" anything that didn't support your worldview.

If you and I had an argument and I produced facts from an authoritative source to back me up, you couldn't just blow that off. You might try to undermine my facts, might counter with facts of your own, but you couldn't just pretend my facts had no weight or meaning.

But that's the intellectual state of the union these days, as evidenced by all the people who still don't believe the president was born in Hawaii or that the planet is warming."

And then he really warms up:

"To listen to talk radio, to watch TV pundits, to read a newspaper's online message board, is to realize that we are a people estranged from critical thinking, divorced from logic, alienated from even objective truth. We admit no ideas that do not confirm us, hear no voices that do not echo us, sift out all information that does not validate what we wish to believe."

Kind of harsh. But true, don't you think? And it's not just politicians.

I know, right? I first noticed this little gem of a conversation heart several months ago and now hear it everywhere. Even though it doesn't really make sense.

Where did it come from? Some say it's from the movie Mean Girls, but I have it on Google authority that the expression has been around longer than that. I am probably way behind the curve on this one. Of course, now that it's hit my radar, "I know, right" may be ready to take it's place with tired hipster phraseology such as "jumped the shark."

I actually love using that one. So delightful, the cheese factory reference to Fonzie on water skis. It's so over I think using it is funny. Kind of like when people say they are from Canada, and I respond, "Oh, Canada." Cracks me up. John smiles indulgently as no one else acknowledges my fourth-grade wit.

That's pure juvenile silliness, but "I know, right" could be here to stay. If you're already using this phrase you're probably too young to remember how everyone made fun of "like" when Valley Girl was big in the '80s (the song, not the movie that followed). To my horror, it slipped into my vocabulary for a while and still pops out occasionally. My grade-school children use it in everyday conversation without a trace of irony.

Yes, we're a family of English majors. But I'm not the only one uncomfortable with the growing ubiquity of this expression. According to this little YouTube clip that's been up since October of 2008, there's a "Stop Saying I Know, Right?" group on facebook.

Good luck to you people. But catch phrases catch on. Language evolves. Ask the Academie Francaise. The "People Who LOVE To Say I Know, Right" on facebook outnumber that other group of haters four-to-one.

Resistance is futile.

For those of you in other areas of the country: no need to envy us here. The day I blogged about the sunshine was notable because of the conspicuous absence of normal Texas winter sun this year. We have had a bit of snow excitement (we may see a few flakes tomorrow, too) but it's rain rain rain and overcast days that have lingered for most of the winter. Cold and gloom and drafty houses built for warm weather... almost makes you wanna go out and get a Snuggie.

When we get back to normal, enviable winter weather I will let you know.


PS Those "few flakes tomorrow" piled up to nine inches. That may not be much to those of you under three feet of white back East, but it beats any day's snowfall on record for Dallas and got the kids out of school Thursday (the day it started) and today. So we braved the slushy roads to see "Percy Jackson and the Olympians." The theater was full.

I demonstrated how to grind wheat at Relief Society last week, and the first round went off without a hitch. This is something I've done a few times, so I was not particularly concerned about preparing an outline or anything like that. Perhaps it was the success of that initial "winging it" approach which caused me to think I could talk and grind wheat at the same time?

As I chatted about white versus red wheat and the process of making bread I poured the wheat berries into the hopper and flipped the switch on the WonderMill. The motor ramped up briefly then choked and shut down as the smell of burning plastic drifted out.

Uh oh.

I unplugged the grinder and went on with the demonstration. Later I attempted to unclog the mill and flipped it on again. Nothing. I guess I broke it. See, you must always turn the mill on BEFORE you add the berries. Something I have done at least a hundred times.

I figured I had received good use of my mill over the past few years and refused to feel bad about having to replace it. So this morning I googled WonderMill and poked around the main website to start my search for the best prices online.

What's this? A tutorial on unclogging your mill? Let's see what I should have done. Oh, I didn't know there is a reset button underneath. Maybe the motor isn't toast and reports of my mill's death have been exaggerated?

Hooray! It's alive!

"Fix it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."

I did it myself.

-- the Little Red Hen

This morning I woke before an alarm, door bang, or the sound of water spray suddenly hitting the shower floor (our bedroom and bath share a half-wall) rousted me from fitful slumber.

Anna is upstairs humming as she gets ready for school and not burrowed under her covers declaring she is too tired to get up. Even though she went to bed a bit late.

I am out of bed checking emails and blogging instead of hibernating. I blame the sun. Hello, sunshine!

Remember how much I liked Three Cups of Tea? I blogged about it way back in '07.

Greg Mortenson has written a follow-up book that is even better -- more engaging, faster paced, equally inspiring. I appreciate how he treats all kinds of people and circumstances with respect.

We need more of that.


...you can get the book (and help build schools, too) here.

When I was very young my mother was at home with us, and then she began to work outside of the home. My dad, a teacher, was around a bit more than some fathers but I don't remember his presence looming large. We roamed around our neighborhood and my parents did whatever parents did. They brought us to museums some weekends and took us on long summer road trips to visit our grandparents. We did other things together, but as I grew older, I noticed families who liked each other more than we did or at least had more fun together.

It would be easy to say that's why I never thought about having a family of my own. But I have a sister who did. So I guess it was just me. I read books (a lot) and dreamed of distant cities. When I married, it was to someone whose parents, like mine, had experience living overseas. I hoped we would be able to do the same and it's possible that the unknown location of my future home kept my thoughts from settling on what kind of home it would be. But I think it was just me.

Our first home was a basement apartment we knew would be temporary. When we moved to Dallas, we rented because graduate school was coming up. We had a baby, moved into another temporary home in student housing, spent a memorable summer in a Greenwich, CT basement apartment, finished school and were ready to buy our first "real" home.

John was working as a consultant so we agreed it would be a two-year slog and then anything could happen. Fast forward three jobs, a second child, nearly ten years and we are still in this house. But it is only in the past few years that I've settled into homemaking. You could say I'm a little behind.

How do you create a happy home and family? It is not easy for me. The repetitive nature of housekeeping depresses me. I am impatient. I don't like to cook. I like it to be quiet. This is not the greatest skill set for my chosen role. However, I have a few things going for me: I don't pretend to be perfect. I am not easily intimidated. And I can let things go. I let a lot of things go. Housework goes a lot.

I will sweep the floor but put off mopping until I can't stand it or we are having company, whichever comes first. I tidy things up and clean the MFPs (Most Filthy Places) when needed. I sort the laundry and try not to let it get too out of control. I de-junk closets, drawers, and the girls' rooms when they start to make me crazy. As a result, our house is not as organized or as clean as I would like it to be, but I've seen worse. I've seen better, too.

I ask the girls to do the dishes so I don't have to and because I want them to be workers, not slackers. I admire families who work. We are not there yet. I am not very consistent. I try to get the family to do yard work with me in the spring and fall (no one wants to be out there in the summer) and we try to do Saturday chores year-round. On weekdays, chores are whatever I ask them to do.

I have tried several systems and none have stuck. But I had a college roommate who would only take out the trash after we made a chart and then only on her assigned day, which irritated me to no end. My end goal is to raise girls who work when needed, without being asked. So the lack of a functional chart doesn't stress me out.

There are books all over the house because I value them. We have a piano and I make the kids take lessons because I want them to play. And I want to hear them play.

I apologize to my children when I am wrong. Because I make mistakes. But I self-promote, too. (I just found a cute swimsuit for Anna. I'm awesome.) Go, Team Cliff!

I do not try to keep things equal. Life is not fair, and fair doesn't mean equal, anyway. I teach my kids that there will always be someone with more and someone with less.

And that if they are unhappy about coming home early from a sleepover they don't have to go to the party at all next time. That's a good one.

See, I'm mean. So I hug my kids and say, "I love you" at least daily. I try to make up for crankiness by giving lots of loves. I hung this sign in my kitchen where my kids can see it.




And so I can see it, too.

Because I'm a stay-at-home-mom. I still dream of travel, and drive way too many summer miles to escape the heat and have little adventures with my girls. We go to museums and national parks and visit family. But now I find that while adventures are fun, it is sweeter to be home.

It's just taken me a while to get here.