Friday, May 22, 2009

If You Know What I Mean (and a CONTEST)


Welcome to my weekly Friday Fragments post, which is made up of a bunch of random thoughts, too short (or too silly) for their own post, all dumped here together. I do this along with a bunch of fun people, led by Mrs. 4444 at Half Past Kissin’ Time. Go check them out. AFTER you read mine, obviously.

* All that talk about concussion reminded me of one of my greatest fears: that I will lose my mind. Now, before you all speak at once, I know what you’re thinking. I HAVE lost my mind, clearly. And you’re right. But I mean in that ‘getting older, starting to slip’ kind of way. I don’t care how badly my body fails me as I get older, I just want to hang on to my mental faculties. To this end, I do a bunch of things. I do crossword puzzles. And jigsaw puzzles. And Sudoku. I read voraciously. I have a program, called Brain Evolution, loaded to my hand-held computer. It has many different games, all designed specifically to sharpen my brain function, with benchmarks for me to measure my progress, and I do them just about every day. Senility is going to have to fight for me.

* I’ve been having trouble loading some of my favorite blogs. When I click on them, whether it’s through my reader, or directly, I get an error message (Internet Explorer cannot load this page) and it disappears. If I usually comment on your blog, and you haven’t seen me in a few days, this might be why. I have no idea why this is happening, or how to fix it, but I will keep trying.

* I was lucky enough to meet another fabulous friend from Blog Land. Sue, from As Cape Cod Turns, happened to be in Maine, and Hallie and I met up with her, and her friend Becki for a quick visit. She was just as fun as I thought she’d be, and we had a great chat. It’s so cool how you meet someone through this crazy blog thing, and then, in person, they’re just like old friends.

* My girlfriend Jonel (who comments as Evansmom) left me a comment back when I was talking about how Alex doesn’t allow me to run out onto the field acting all mommy-ish when he gets hurt. Her story was just priceless, so, for those who missed it, here’s what she said: “Evan got hit by a baseball several years ago when he was about nine. I was not paying attention and didn't realize he was up to bat when I heard this very loud thunk and looked up to see my one and only son sprawled over home plate. It was so loud that everyone watching gasped and cringed in sympathy. I wanted to jump the fence and run to him but, instead, I slowly walked to the area where he was while chanting to myself "do not run, do not embarrass him, do not run". He was OK and continued in the game. I did call out to first base "OK?" and got a thumbs up. After the game, I was feeling quite proud of myself and my restraint. What did my son say? "MOM! Where were you? The coach kept saying - just hold on, your Mom will be here any minute." Sigh, you just can't win.”

* TIME FOR A CONTEST!!!!! Yay! Only not here on my blog. My friend Andy (Andrew Scott Turner, a writer and one of the wittiest people I know), whose blog is titled A Long Patience, has reached 100 posts. Congrats!!! Anyway, he’s having a contest, so go check it out here and congratulate him on reaching this milestone. Right after you leave me a comment, that is.

26 comments:

Laura ~Peach~ said...

it never fails... no matter what we do with the kids they always want the opposite LOL

Laura ~Peach~ said...

oh yeah i have been getting the same problems with blogs so i think it is blogger not us

Wonderful World of Weiners said...

Ditto for the blogger message which pisses me off - it even does it when I'm trying to write my own blog!!

I'll let you know when you've lost your mind. I thought you were close a few times but then something made me realize you still had a few good thinkin' years left!!

Hallie

Melissa said...

I'm there with you on not going senile or anything like that. My.Worst.Nightmare. Losing my mind though? Has already happened. I have two tween boys. Nuff said.

Laura Marchant said...

I do a lot to keep my mind active too. That is one of my biggest fears.

Smoochiefrog said...

Can't win for losing with little people.

How cool you got to do an IRL. Awesome!

Corrine said...

Me, too. Same blogging error.
I knew that it had to be the system...for I wouldn't ever screw it up. Lives, perhaps...BUT NEVER A COMPUTER SYSTEM.

claudia said...

Thank goodness I have girls and they aren't into sports. Only one who is earning her living training 1500 pounds animals (horses)!!!!!
My internet thing does something to that effect with me too. I don't how to fix it either. I just hit my back button and try again and usually it goes through. Blame it on sunspots...that always works.
I've already lost my mind, but in the slipping away sense, that scares me too. I just don't want to embarass myself. But then if my mind is not all there, how would I know. Oh yeah, my oldest daughter would remind me over and over! What would I do without her?
Going over to Andrew's this afternoon or I will be late for work.
Love You!

Evansmom said...

In our years of friendship, I can only think of one time that I would consider possible evidence of you losing your mind. A situation where we were having an oh-so-serious discussion on which markers to use to color code nametags! We were involved in a very large Beanhole Bean supper and had to make nametags to identify which person was in charge of each food item. I seem to remember that we were very concerned about the color to use for the hot dog person. We had already used the brown marker for the baked beans and we wondered if we should re-use that color or if it would be OK to use a red marker even though the hot dogs were not red hot dogs. This somehow, became a monumental decison in our young lives. That, my friend, is insane! However, I will give you a pass because we had been without sleep for 36 hours, there was some alcohol involved and (mostly) because it would mean I was losing my mind too! I look at that event and believe that is when we went from casual friends to BFFs! I mean, who else would get so excited about the decision to do the coleslaw name tag in orange and green alternating letters? Love you!

knittergran said...

I LOVE Jonel's story! As Laura Peach said-it never fails!!!
And I have never seen lacrosse played, so I had no idea it was so violent....poor you! How worrying it must be.
I have seen a program on that computer thing they did with your son. The story was about using it with injured football players. lacrosse sounds just as violent.

I am Harriet said...

I've heard that there have been some IE issues with loading blogs lately. Has something to do with a Google gadget or something.

As Cape Cod Turns said...

You seemed pretty clear and in your right mind when I met you the other night, so...so far so good!
I wrote about you today too!

annies home said...

I have been having some difficulties just like the ones you had with the pages not opening properly I am not sure what it was so thought it was me but it was not had it all checked out

for a different kind of girl said...

I have had the same problem when going to people's blogs in IE. I think I read somewhere that it has to do with Blogger, but specifically the 'follows' widget. I could be totally wrong, though. I am computer clueless. However, when I go to blogs in Firefox, I have no problems.

Crazee Juls said...

I think it's an internet explorer issue, because I was having the same problem loading people's blogs (even my own!) and switched to a different browser, and now it's working fine. :) Enjoyed your Friday Fragments.
I'm afraid of losing my mind (even though most people think I already have)too

Caution/Lisa said...

Add me to the list getting the same message. I feel better knowing I'm not alone now! And I'm jealous that you got to meet Sue in person. She's always been one blogger I thought would be wonderful getting to know better.

Okay, when your mental prowess is still strong and mine has been reduced to nothing, you'll look out for me, right?

Mrs4444 said...

I just "met" AST recently, and I really love his blog. And actually, I won his contest today!!!! Can't wait to get his book :)

Your story about your son's injury cracks me up. What a wimpy coach! heehee.

I highly recommend the free download of Firefox. That fixed my problems for good.

Alice said...

OMG! Love the baseball story...somehow I think I am going to have lots of those in my future!

Kristin - The Goat said...

Firefox seemed to help me with the blogger issues.

I've met a few people that I'd originally met online. So far all of my online friends have been incredible in real life. :) It's grand, this internet, just grand.

Merrily Down the Stream said...

so that's your excuse???

Elenka said...

Yeah, kids, who the heck knows. Just when you think you have them figured out, they change.
Have a great weekend, M.E.
(Did we enjoy these 2 HOT days?? I know I did !!!)

Tonjia said...

there is some kind of glitch going on in blogland.. hang in there, maybe it will get better.

Lori Skoog said...

Hope your son is fine.

You are just a baby...with all the things you enjoy doing, your mind will stay very sharp. I love to play bridge!

Cupcake Blonde said...

I too fear about losing my mind. To me being trapped in my own brain would be too much.

So in August will you be joining Hallie on her trek to meet me? How cool would that be!!!

Unknown said...

whew...I'm glad I am not the only one getting those wacky error messages.
Next time I'm in Portsmouth, I will have to meet up with you and Hallie!
I'm off to see about this contest!
Have a great weekend!
~AM

Proud Mom said...

I thought the blogger BS was only happening to me. That's why I haven't been in touch lately.

I had to laugh when I read about Jonel's baseball story because just this week a similar thing happened to me...

Nut got hurt fielding a ball at shortstop. The boy running from 2nd kicked him, and Nut lay motionless on the ground. I was on the grass just outside the right field line and I immediately rose to my feet, watching and waiting for him to get up or even move, or even have the friggin' coach move! Nothing was happening except for my heart beating a hundred miles a minute. Finally I could take it no more, so out onto the baseline I ran, like a wild woman. Nobody flattens my baby and lives to tell about it!
By the time I got to Nut, I decided to let the bully off the hook and tend to my baby... Phew, no broken bones or abrasion, just a bruised pinkie. Nothing a kiss from mom couldn't cure!