Hey Noreen » Musings

Summer

Noreen — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:57:18 +0000

One day I will meet the person who thinks that this is what summer should be all about. Until then, I will make it happen on my own. Because I am worth it and this is what I like.

Baby Shower

Noreen — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:59:49 +0000

Everyone around me is having babies. Nothing makes you feel so old as seeing everyone else pushing baby strollers and realizing that pushing strollers was something you did over 30 years ago. I have to go to another baby shower next weekend. I might as well stock up on baby gifts and keep them at the ready.

Transformers Sequel Rocks

Noreen — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:05:24 +0000

After two months of hype and a bombardment of movie trailers, we took the 6 year old to the second day’s showing of the new Transformers movie, Revenge of the Fallen. He was so excited, he sat on the edge of his seat for most of the movie. We did it up all the way, with a big overpriced bag of buttered popcorn and a large coke that he plopped into the armrest cup holder like a pro.

The movie was great – a lot of fighting and destruction – just what the kids were hoping for.

However, I think the movie has way too much smutty reference and bad language for a children’s movie. Maybe the Hollywood suits were trying to also appeal to the older kids and young men by including all the sexual scenes and cursing. But in my mind, it was totally unnecessary and almost ruined the product for being appropriate to the younger ages that most appreciated the movie.

It could have been just as great a movie without the smut. In fact, if they had a financial incentive to do so, I bet if they stripped out the nastiness and replaced it with other clever dialogue then relased it, audiences would still love this movie.

Can He Dance?

Noreen — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:51:51 +0000

A group of women were chatting about a guy we all know. He seemed like the perfect man, by his own accounts. He claims to cook gourmet meals, has mastered housework and child care as a single parent with shared custody, has a ton of money from extensive education and a prosperous career, respects women. What more could we ask?

Well, I asked if he can dance and he reluctantly admitted that, no, he has never bothered to learn to dance.

Everyone left the discussion, bitterly disappointed. The search continues.

Happy Halloween

Noreen — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 20:46:10 +0000

We always get several dozen kids ringing our doorbell on Halloween night, looking for handouts. I like to pass out the fun sized candy bars. I make sure that they are all peanut free because I know that a lot of people have allergies to peanuts. I put all of the goodies in a large bowl near the door and I let the kids reach in with one hand and grab a handful. If the kid is really little I’ll let the kid take two handfuls. By nine pm the porch lights go out and I head to bed, hoping that when we get up in the morning the mailbox will still be intact and the cars un-egged and unvandalized. So far we’ve been lucky; but some of our neighbors have not been so fortunate in years past. I guess the kids didn’t like their candy!

Silk flowers

Noreen — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:41:22 +0000

I happen to like silk flowers. They are pretty, and they are very realistic looking. Better than that, they never need watering and if they get knocked over there is no mess of a pile of dirt you have to clean up! And even better, the cats don’t eat the silk flowers and then puke them up on the sofa twenty minutes later! A while ago I was watching a decorating show on HGTV and the designer was saying that no matter how pretty the silk flowers are, artificial flowers are always tacky. Well, I disagree completely! I think they are wonderful!

Patch or Pill?

Noreen — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 13:50:37 +0000

My first exposure to administering drugs into the body using an adhesive patch (rather than a pill or a shot) was back in the early 1990’s when my son was very sick. He needed help with pain killers and his body couldn’t tolerate any more more abuse of his digestive tract. So he was prescribed a state-of-the-art pain patch. It looked like a large square band aid that you peeled off a backing and stuck onto your arm or shoulder area. The medicine is absorbed through the skin instead of through the stomach.

Now they have patches for many different types of medicines and many types of conditions, from anti-smoking to birth control to motion sickness. This is one of the great but mostly unheralded advances of modern medicine. It made a tremendous difference in the care and quality of life of my son and I know it has helped millions since then.

Just Too Busy

Noreen — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:50:06 +0000

The new Eagles album is out and the first cut to get airplay around here is the song, “Busy Being Fabulous.” I think it is a great slam on the celebrities and too powerful snobs like politicians, CEOs and bosses everywhere. With a very simple and constant refrain, “you were just too busy being fabulous to care about us.”

I wonder if anyone actually said those very words to one of them or if they were able to figure it out for themselves?

Firewood falling from a truck

Noreen — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:07:10 +0000

My neighbor told me today that his car was struck by some firewood falling from the truck that he was driving behind. It did over $800 worth of damage! I’m glad it wasn’t me!

Cuba is changing

Noreen — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:13:18 +0000

Since Raul Castro has taken over running Cuba from Fidel Castro, some pretty significant changes have been happening in Cuba; all of them good. Raul Castro lifted restrictions on Cubans owning computers and mobile phones, and signed the UN human rights accords. He has also authorized payments of productivity bonuses to workers, and he is going to try to increase farm productivity by putting more state-controlled farm land into the hands of private farmers. I think these are all changes for the better!

Looking for free wifi hotspots

Noreen — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:37:59 +0000

I just bought a small laptop that is ready to connect to wifi. I plan to use it when I travel. I hope I can find plenty of free wifi hotspots!

Do they EVER grow up????

Noreen — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:26:09 +0000

I would never have expected in a million years for tonight’s scene to happen. My significant other came home from work and announced that he had an Elks meeting tonight and he needed to take a nap until about 6pm.

Much to my surprise, as he was walking out the door to go to the meeting he said to me “Oh, by the way, I’m supposed to bring several dozen home made cookies to tonight’s meeting!”

Well, you know what? I haven’t made home made cookies in years, and I don’t have any just lying around the house, either! When my kids were in elementary school, they used to spring that kind of thing on me, but it was at least the night before we needed the cookies, not as we were walking out the door!

So, I ask you, do they EVER grow up?

I’m listening to a bunch of propaganda about oil

Noreen — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:22:36 +0000

I’m listening to the news on television right now, and I am not happy about what they are saying about the price of oil continuing to rise, and the profits of the oil companies are continuing to rise, and there just seems to be no end in sight. It seems that every time I hear about how the government or big businesses have the opportunity to promote alternative energy sources they do everything they can to sabotage the idea. It’s really quite sickening. I think that the oil companies are gouging us, and there seems to be little I can do about it. I’ve already cut down on our energy consumption as much as possible. The whole thing is very discouraging.

Now that was either gutsy or stupid

Noreen — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:51:42 +0000

I’m not sure if this was gutsy or stupid, but I was just reading an article on Reuters.com about an Italian couple that was caught having sex in a catholic church confessional booth during morning Mass services! Their lawyer says they were drunk at the time (I don’t really think being drunk makes that any less awful, do you?) The article goes on to say that they apologized to the bishop, who accepted the apology. I’m not catholic, but even I know doing something like that is a really boneheaded stunt!

Gay weddings in California

Noreen — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:57:09 +0000

Today is the first day that gay weddings are legal in California. I say, good for them! It’s been a long time coming. I think that gay people should be allowed to marry in every state. And I think that gay people should be allowed to adopt children, too. I think that every person should be allowed the “pursuit of happiness” not just “straight” people. I wish them all well.

Terrible tornado in Iowa

Noreen — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:26:34 +0000

Boy, it is early in the tornado season, yet every day it seems that I am turning on the news and hearing about another destructive tornado touching down and having terrible life-changing consequences. Last night at 6:35 a tornado ripped through a boy scout camp, killing four and injuring forty! What a horrible nightmare! I cannot even imagine the terror that the kids (and their scout leaders AND their parents) all felt when the tornado tore through the camp. Just thinking about how I would feel as a parent to learn that one of my kids that I had sent away for a boy scout leadership training camp was killed by a tornado! It just totally breaks my heart to even think about it. I am so very sorry for all of those affected by the horrible tragedy.

Veteran’s benefits

Noreen — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:34:53 +0000

I’ve never been highly educated on what kinds of benefits veterans get, but recent publicity about how much college tuition aid veterans should get has really surprised me. I always had the impression from commercials and other propaganda that if a person joined the military, that the military would pay for most of (if not all of) their college.

Recent politics has brought to my attention that is not the case at all. I’ve heard that the government only pays for a small part of it. In fact, from what I’ve heard, John McCain is opposed to improving the veterans tuition aid benefits, claiming that if the benefits were improved, people would leave the military sooner in order to reap the benefits. That disturbs me.

Gang activity

Noreen — Sat, 24 May 2008 00:46:21 +0000

It seems that every time I turn on the television, or pick up a newspaper, or read the local news on the Internet, I am hearing about the increase in gang activity across the country. I am hearing and reading a lot of stories about home invasions that just make my hair stand on end! As the economy worsens, crime is bound to increase because people are going to be more desperate and take measures they would not normally take during prosperous times. This is a frightening situation for us all.

Superpowers

Noreen — Mon, 05 May 2008 08:17:25 +0000

Last night my son asked me “if you could have ONE superpower, what would it be?” Apparently he had seen a poll on the Internet asking that question! Well, that is really a hard question! I’d like to have a BUNCH of them! I’d like to be able to fly, I’d like to be able to perform mind control (You WILL clean your room!) I’d like to be invisible, I’d like to be invulnerable, I’d like to be able to perform telekinesis! Jeez, to pick only ONE!

I think of all of the potential super powers that are “available” to choose from, I think I’d have to go with telekinesis! I think it would be really cool to be able to move objects just by thinking about moving them!

Aging

Noreen — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:23:10 +0000

I can remember as a little girl, thinking that I would stay young forever. I remember thinking that anyone over the age of thirty is “old.” I remember seeing elderly people in hospitals and being scared by their wrinkles and white hair and age spots. I remember hearing people say “you’re only as old as you feel!”

Well, I don’t feel old, but I’m getting old looking and I’m not happy about it. My hair is graying and the wrinkles are getting visible. I’m starting to notice some age spots! I still feel twenty but look fifty. And I don’t like it! Not one single bit!