Feb-March 1 Second a Day

Feb-March 2016 from Pam on Vimeo.

My 47th Birthday

One thing is certain: I am extremely lucky to have so many great people in my life. Family and friends on both sides of the pond made me feel so good yesterday on my birthday. The boys spoilt me with gardening stuff and Chanel #5.  I got books and clothes and money and toiletries and smelly candles galore!

I spent the morning hiking with a friend and our kids. We got lost and muddy and snagged by thorn bushes but it was a fun experience. We ate a picnic lunch while the boys talked about farts and Nerf guns and how wet their socks were.

In the afternoon I went shopping for fabric (I'm starting a new quilt) and I bribed the boys into quiet submission at the shop by promising them $5 each to spend at Five Below if they didn't act up.  It worked. Yes, I paid my children cash to let me shop in peace, but it was my birthday so I was allowed to suck at parenting.

I spent the evening at the local bar, and later on my porch, with dear friends. Laughing is so good for the soul. Copious amounts of alcohol however is not, and I have been feeling bad all day.   I also had a little cry after all the friends had left, because I was drunk and it felt so damn unfair that Eric couldn't be there to celebrate with me. He'd have loved it all.

All in all, a successful birthday. I'm totally happy being 47.

Audio Books I'm Listening to

I just started listening to "Masterminds & Wingmen" by Rosalind Wiseman, a book about raising boys.  There are some frightening statistics at the beginning.  More boys than girls are diagnosed with learning disabilities, commit suicide (for every 100 girls, 549 boys), and end up in correctional facilities. 
What are we doing wrong? Turns out we are damaging our boys at an alarming rate. I've already sat in my car and cried or got choked up several times and I'm only 5 disks into an 11 disk set. Let's hope it gives me the tools to reach out and connect with my boys much better than I have. I can clearly see now that it would be easy to ignore their needs, since they rarely open up. 
Here's a short little video about the book.... 

I have also been obsessed with the audio books of Philippa Gregory, particularly about The Tudor period in English history. It was such a fascinating, bonkers time!  What I love about her books is that they are written from the women's perspective.  I know it's not hard-core history (it's historical fiction at best) but I loved how she fills in the gaps and brings the women to life.

Here's what I've polished off so far:

• The lady of the rivers (Jacquetta of Luxembourg  - Henry Vlll's maternal great grandmother)

• The red queen (Margaret Beaufort  - Henry Vlll's paternal grandmother)

• The white queen (Elizabeth Woodville - Henry Vlll's maternal grandmother)

• The white princess (Elizabeth of York - Henry Vlll's mother)

• The kings curse  (Margaret Pole  - the last of the Plantagenets)

And of course Henry Vlll's  six wives. Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived.

He really was a crazy crazy bastard.

• The constant princess (Katherine of Aragon)

• The other Boleyn girl (Ann Boleyn, Jane Seymour)

• The Boleyn inheritance (Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard)

• The taming of the queen (Katherine Parr)

Here's a short video about the Katherine Parr novel "The Taming of the Queen". The feminist in me loved this book. Actually, the feminist in me loved ALL the books.

BB Guns & Baskteball

It's been a busy couple of weeks at work and I've been struggling to keep up with kid stuff and housework. I keep thinking oh I must post on the blog about this! And then I'm too tired to do it.

We've been doing Cub Scout stuff, basketball, school projects, movie-going (Zootopia), and trying to get the bedroom finished. It's still not.

Here's a few pictures from the previous 2 weeks ...

After seeing a ventriloquist at Cub Scouts he spent his pocket money on a Muppets puppet, Walter. 

BB Gun range at the maple syrup festival. This was a great family day out.
Lesson for next year - get there & immediately buy syrup before they sell out!!

Rosalie's 1st birthday party! These friends of ours are so wonderful. 

Smiling, even though they lost every game of the season. They did last year too. Maybe it's time for a new coach .
I'm not hoping for glory but damn, one win would be something. Loss after loss is no fun. 

New desk & chair for my lad.
I wonder how long it'll take him to cover it in marker pen or launch himself off the chair. Sigh. 

Made myself this collage to hang in my living room. I miss Eric so much. 

The Trump Frenzy

I am disturbed about the possibility of Donald Trump becoming president. He is vile, racist & sexist, with no respect for the working class. I thought it was a joke 6 months ago and we all laughed and pointed at him, like the clown he is. But it's no joke people.

People are going to his rallies and he's winning in the GOP polls and OH.MY.GOD.  I work with people and I have students and I have FRIENDS that will vote for him because he's going to make America great again and he says what he thinks.  That's exactly what Charles Manson promised too. That's what mental, narcissistic people say.  1939 in Germany springs to mind.

It makes me feel really sad and also flabbergasted when I see pictures of these people at rallies and I think, what must their lives be like? Why are all these white people whipped up into a racist frenzy?

The good looking blond lady who's overjoyed at the front of the rally, why is she so happy to be there?  How is her life so fucked up that she has to go to a Trump rally and listen to that vitriol? What does she think he will do for her and her child. Really?

Do these people believe he cares for them? He publicly ridicules them and calls them stupid.
Do they think he knows how hard they have it? He doesn't give a shit how hard they have it.
Do they believe he will help them? He won't. He seriously doesn't care about them.

So why are they going to his rallies? I completely understand why a person who votes Republican will vote for him no matter what. They aren't voting for HIM, they are voting for their political party.

What I don't understand, what I find vile and upsetting, is that people would vote for him because they agree with him. That they would go to a rally and be whipped up into a racist and angry frenzy, which is happening. It's happening!!! America is still unbelievably, incredibly racist.

Anyone who votes for that bigot, is also a bigot.