Seven Quick Takes - Happy Hours, Memes and Cattle Drives

Fall is here. I'm so happy. It has been rainy and gloomy and cold and I could not be more joyous. Well yesterday it was sunny and cool which is even greater. It's fall -- so life is busy with 5 kids in 4 different educational settings so I've fallen behind on blogging. Hence today's foray into Seven Quick Takes (which as it turns out took 13 hours to get published and are now practically "out takes.")

One:

I tried to re-institute Happy Hour around here. My dear friend Laura reminded me that "running shoes and wine" are Mama's sanity savers. It seems, however,  that through all the dieting and heart stuff of the last year, I've lost my tolerance for a half-glass of wine. It just makes me want a nap. So Happy Hour lasted one day and has been replaced by Coffee Break. (Funny, writing this I realize I'm not allowed to drink alcohol with my heart meds. Oops. That explains the need for nap!)

Two:

In an "oh, duh" moment, I read an article on Web MD reporting a study that said doctors need to address lifestyle issues like obesity and sedentary lifestyles with their patients instead of just addressing the symptoms like high blood pressure and diabetes. Seriously, we needed a study to tell us this?  It shores up another study I read recently that said your physician is unlikely to mention weight to you if you are overweight but not very obese. It was kind of a "nice" thing. That jives with my experience for sure. It looks like it's still on us to manage our health and not wait for the doctors to tell us we need to exercise and lose weight. Oh it's so much easier when we have someone to blame. "My doctor didn't SAY I was overweight."

Three:

It had to be said, "What's the deal with Memes?" I know I am old, very very old. Okay, I'm 54. I see a lot of Memes. Very few amuse me. I mostly enjoy the ones where Ryan Gosling "talks" to the ladies:

I don't know why I love this so much. It's just ridiculous. But seriously, is it just me or do a lot of Memes miss the mark? Oh, and do I have to capitalize "M"emes? In case you are a funny person though, here's a "build your own Meme" site.

Four:

I would like to learn how to count money in Spanish. I am starting to get along with my customers quite well in Spanish, but I have no idea how to count money to them. I am not talking about the actual words for the numbers -- though I could brush up on them -- I am wondering what's the proper way to do it?  In English, if we're counting hundreds (of dollars) for instance, we'll say, "$500 coming back to you: One, two, three, four, five hundred," or "four, five, . . (ETC). . nine hundred, one thousand, eleven-hundred, twelve, thirteen, fourteen hundred." So you see my dilemma. In Spanish (at least the Texas version) is it permissible to leave off the hundreds or do you have to say them every time? My coworker keeps promising to show me but on the days we both work, we're too all-fired busy for remedial Spanish. If you know these things, please help me!

Five

Passive aggressiveness can be so subtle. I actually prefer the guy in the church parking lot blaring his horn at me to the lady who thinks I took her parking spot so parks so close to my car I can't open the door. (Blanket useful fact here: I have a lot of distractions in the car; I probably never even saw you.) 

So here is my "coach tip" of the day: How do you know if you're passive aggressive? If you don't like your neighbor's kids playing basketball at midnight and you ask the HOA to ban basketball hoops in driveways, you might be passive aggressive. A more useful approach is to ask the neighbor kids not to play after 10:00 PM because it is disturbing your sleep. I'm sure they aren't keeping you awake on purpose. Being direct is a lot more likely to get you what you want, even though it is more uncomfortable at first. Try asking a friend to support you by letting you practice with them first. If you really, really just can't say the words, write a note that begins with "I'm a little shy but I want to tell you . . ." and deliver it with a plate of cookies and a smile. In the long run, people will love you for it.

Six

I'm really worried about boys playing football. Those head injuries can have such long-term consequences. I think every parent of boys should be required to watch this Frontline specials, "League of Denial." Even if not all the conclusions they draw are 100% correct, there is enough there to make me say, "Sorry sons. No football for you."  We just can't risk it.

Seven

Tomorrow is Chisholm Trail Days in Georgetown. I'm going to "encourage" Daddy to take the kiddos - I think it would be fun if the weather cooperates. I'm telling you this so you'll go check it out too! It's the time of year to get outdoors, people. They have a cattle drive at noon!

Have a great weekend!