My Blog

The "blah's"...

Leanna — Fri, 30 May 2008 11:39:34 GMT

I've spent this spring in a state of "the blahs"... I have a mild case of Seasonal Affective Disorder and usually by this time of year we've had a bit of sun... This year, not so much! I know my friends are wondering at my sluggishness... My get up and go, got up and went It's only because I've been a tad on the depressed side because of all the damp and dreary weather! I feel like Lucy in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. "Always winter and never Christmas"...My take on it is," Always spring and never sunshine!!!" I really need me some vitamin D... C'mon SUN!!!!

"Friendship, friendship, it's the perfect blendship"...

Leanna — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 01:00:26 GMT

People are interesting. I mean that literally. Who people are, and how they came to be that way, I find incredibly fascinating... One of the pleasures of life that I really enjoy, is spending time getting to know someone. Ideally with food between us, like an informal lunch, dinner in an intimate setting, or "coffee" and dessert. However, the old axiom is true, "We are the sum of our experiences"... And being "the kid the whole school picks on" during my growing up years, I have what is probably a skewed sense of how friendships happen... I do not seek to engender the maudlin, when I say, quite truthfully, that I spent a lot of my childhood lonely. When you are "The kid the whole school picks on" in a town poulation 6000, there really is no place to go to escape it... And it doesn't stop when school is out. You go to your new Campfire meeting, and are told to go there with the other girls, so you know the way, only to find them running to ditch you, while you beg them to wait... And you suffer from "Can't find the way out of a wet paper bag" syndrome". Which is one more thing the kids can tease you for... You go swimming at the city pool, only to find a group of your hated adversaries there, ready to make your afternoon miserable... And you spend your time there trying to avoid those kids, so you aren't dunked, splashed, and generally tormented in the water. The other alternative being, letting them have the satisfaction of driving you off, or maybe worse, calling you a "chicken" or a "tattle tale" if you talk to the lifeguard... Though things improved some as I have gotten older, I still have a slightly idiot savant bearing when it comes to social situations. And even in the best of circumstances am still somewhat socially awkward... I consider myself very blessed to have the friends that I do, and am, even now, as someone in middle age, baffled when someone extends friendship. Like Pavlovs dog, I have been conditioned, in my early years, to question the agenda of the one extending the friendship... So, with the best of intentions, I stiltedly try to overcome my conditioning...Sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, and probably confusing the heck out of the perfectly innocent extender of friendship. Or, as I think is sometimes the case, alienating them. But I am nothing if not stubborn, and will keep trying to overcome my conditioning and learn to be more open to the extention of friendship! Thank you, to all of you who are my friends, in spite of my "uniqueness"!

The Great Pretender....

Leanna — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 09:06:55 GMT

I live in the town of Auburn Washington, a suburb of Seattle that is thirty miles from the city... I went to the grocery store last night. As I made my way to the produce section, in the aisle next to the magazines was a short scrawny high school-ish aged white boy. Wearing his oversized jeans down past his butt, with an oversized cami jacket, granny glasses, and his hat on sideways. All the while talking "tough" into his cell phone...And I giggled...Then when paying for my groceries I spoke to the checker about this "gangsta pretender", and she also giggled... As I left the the store he was standing under the breezeway talking to one of his "Boiz"...And I just had to laugh a long and heartfelt belly laugh... Because, "Dude, you're in the burbs at the grocery store. This ain't 'da hood'!" Teenagers are FUNNY! LOL Has anybody else been amused by this lately?

Prithee, a moment?

Leanna — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:57:25 GMT

A few years ago the family and I were at a ren-faire where we were performing. Our day went as usual. Then I needed to pee.... And as is common when one has on a bodice/corset, and two "blessed with yardage" floor length skirts, going to the bathroom can be quite an accomplishment. I have long held that a woman in renaissance costuming has full rights to use a handicapped stall/porta potty. Because if wearing a bodice/corset and yards of fabric in her skirts, with maybe a hoop, isn't being handicapped in the arena of toilet use, I don't know what is! So I used the handicapped porta potty, straightened my clothing, and looked up at the sanitizer dispenser... On it I read, "Please apply to clean, dry hands."........ I laughed uproriously. Because, if my hands were clean and dry, why would I need sanitizer?! Ah! The sign must be for the great unwashed masses! ; D

"I'm 'Enary the 8th I am"

Leanna — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:16:03 GMT

There is this movie being advertised now "The Other Boleyn Girl", and it's the second piece of recent film about Henry VIII, where he is NOT protrayed with red hair!!!!!! (The other being the recent series done with Jonathan Rhys Meyers) Beyond my obvious predjudice that says "HEY! What's wrong with red hair?" There is the whole, "If you are going to do it, do it right" point of view...Henry VIII had red hair! He should be portayed with red hair! When Elizabeth I is protrayed in any recent film, she has RED hair. So why is the man who was her father, whom she got the red hair from, not protrayed with red hair!!! If you can't find an actor with red hair, DYE IT! Fine, show him as young, in shape and virile... Because history claims he was all these, (even though the cliche painting, is him as a fat old man holding a turkey leg)... But I swear this protraying him without red hair is going to make me scream!!! Is this just a "redhead thing"? Am I alone in being bothered by this? *sigh* It's a pain being, obviously, the only person around who could make a film correctly! ; D

Constant Comment...

Leanna — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 01:29:16 GMT

Hey! If ya read my blog and you think it's funny, or profound, or not worth the time it took to type. Please say so!!! I gotta have me some feedback...

The Chorus....

Leanna — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 01:15:25 GMT

Well, Ruth and I are mostly over the bug we caught, and Hannah is slowly bringing up the rear... But I am treated to hearing a plethora of sneezes and nose honking, and a ca-cough-ony of coughs from the three of us... All very "musical" in a percussive way... Kinda makes me feel like I'm listening to a "Stomp" performance!... I think we should take it on the road! We can call ourselves "Black Rhinovirus"!.. What do you guys think? Should we put together a garage band? ; D

Choices...

Leanna — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:50:23 GMT

I really love this quote, it says so much about all our daily interactions with the world!... "I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration; I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming." Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Ack!

Leanna — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 01:35:51 GMT

I've caught a bug and I feel YUCKY! I'm better than I was yesterday, but still have sore throat, stuffed up nose, slight fever and a little achy and weak... I guess I should be grateful that I didn't catch the upchucking bug that Hannah had last weekend... It could be so much worse... But still, I feel icky and I wanna whine about it... I FEEL BLECHY! And I wanna be WELL! : ( Waaaaaaaahhhhhhh!

People in glass houses...

Leanna — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:02:29 GMT

My daughters had a friend stop by today with her mother, and I was particularly frustrated that she saw the house less than spotless... I am not the only one who lives in this house.... But why am I the one judged and looked down on if it is not clean... Case in point, if a man were home for a day watching the kids by himself, if someone stopped by and the house wasn't clean, he would be forgiven... But if a woman were home with the kids all day , and someone stopped by and the house wasn't clean, she WOULD be judged and thought less of... Why is that? Are we not as evolved as we think? What about this double standard? Do we lower our expectations for the women, or raise them for the men? All I know, is I get tired of feeling less than, because of the judgemental looks, when someone drops by and my house isn't clean, and I know my husband certainly doesn't feel that way! Though I must admit that the training drilled into my head as a kid, makes it hard for ME not to be judgemental when I drop by someones house and see it less than clean...But I must say, I do TRY and put the shoe on the other foot when I do... There has to be a better way!

The Terrible "Tween's"

Leanna — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 07:55:01 GMT

My ten year old daughter and I had an exchange today about the transient nature of things that are "popular"... And I think she got that in the grand scheme of things, "popular" objects are just "fads"... But when I pointed out that all these poplular things aren't going to matter one whit when we are dead, I don't think she understood the fact that the statement encompasses so much more than she can fathom... Too bad she'll be starting Middle School in two years, then her understanding of how "popular" things affect her world, will probably change dramatically....

Life is...

Leanna — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:58:37 GMT

In the spirit of my last post, these are the lyrics to a song, slightly changed to reflect my wish for the direction of my growth...This is for the world at large... And the people I meet in it... Through this journey of discovery, Finding me and finding you, Now that I've seen something special, It brings out the joy inside of me... We can become whatever we want, All we need is love and truth, That's the way I feel it should be, For you and me...

Gameshows...

Leanna — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 10:58:48 GMT

Well It seems nobody thought my story about Jason, and the only feet he had, was funny (or at least nobody commented that it was funny anyway... But I'm not one to give up easily, I'll try again with a different kid... At the preschool once, we had a parent donate a large (4'x4') magnetic board. And we installed it on the back of a large wooden storage cupboard.... The magnetic board had graph pattern on it and we put magnetic shapes and letters on it for the kids. One day I saw a strange sight at the magnet board... There were three children, two boys and a girl, gathered around the board and they were obviously playing some kind of game... The two boys would conference together, and then one of the boys would lean over and say something to the girl, who would nod and then move the shapes and letters around.... When she was done moving things, the three of them would look at it, then they would get all excited and jump around.... I saw them do this a few times and it puzzled me... So I walked up to another teacher and asked her to come look... She watched this "game" happen a few times and was just as puzzled as I was.... We watched together for a bit, then it hit me.... They were playing "Wheel of Fortune"! Ah, the insidious T.V. ; D

A whiter shade of pale...

Leanna — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 02:15:06 GMT

Okay, so we all know that I'm a redhead... which I spent the years of my school career being teased unmercifully for. But that's ANOTHER story... Right now, I'm focusing on my whiter than white skin, that GOES with that red hair.... I grew up in a town filled with mexicans, and was given crap about my complexion consistantly... Even my brother and sister (who got my native american dad's complexion, while I got the cheekbones) teased me constantly about my inability to tan... When I was in college I had a schoolmate who went so far as to call me "spook" in the summer, when everyone else had a tan... But I never knew just how WHITE I appear to the average person until this last May when I cut my foot and had to have it stitched up in the ER... I was wearing a short sleeved peasant blouse and shorts when I went in, and the first doctor who saw me, put a blanket on my lap and said " I'm cold just looking at you"... For the record, I wasn't shivering, or rubbing my arms,but I could tell she thought I was in shock... So I reached over and touched her hand with mine and said, " I'm not cold, I'm just fine...And I'm not in shock, I'm just THIS color"... So it's official, I'm so white, you can read by me, I'm so white the only people paler than me are albino, AND, I'm so white that doctors think I'm in shock when I cut myself.... What can I say.... It's hard being a Nordic Goddess! ; D

The writers strike... aka tangential thinking....

Leanna — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 07:25:26 GMT

Me and a lot of my friends are creative types. Like writers are creative types... I was in the bathroom today reading a magazine, (I do my best thinking there dont'cha know ; D...), and I saw a smart aleck remark on the page...To which I thought of a snappy comeback....And that got me thinking... If you are a T.V. sit-com writer in real life, when you are in an argument, do you HAVE the snappy comeback??? I mean, I can come up with snappy comebacks to a lot of smart aleck remarks, but ya know, whenever I'm in the middle of a REAL argument, the snappy comebacks elude me!!! I HATE THAT!!! LOL I wanna be the person who always slays with the snappy comeback! That said, on to the title sentence.... I wholeheartedly support the entertainment industry writers strike... The producers are being absolute pigs, (and that's an insult to the poor pigs)! I am with the writers in spirit! If I lived in Los Angeles or New York I would SOO picket with them! I look forward to the strike being over and the spate of 'reality tv" that will come in it's wake to be over too!!!

Doldrums...

Leanna — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 05:45:52 GMT

Another poem... For wintertime... Solstice A bleak winter, the senses quay, dark early, and cold all day. Sitting at the computer, distraction?Nay! I want to curl in blankets, the world at bay, Imagining, dreaming the day away. Movies, reading, T.V., I pray... Anything but this sunless grey! Am I a bear? Sure seems that way! Waiting for sun, waiting for May

Preschool Humour

Leanna — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 07:21:27 GMT

When I taught preschool years ago, I was often amused at the antics of the 30 kids in our class of 3 and 4 year olds... The following is an anecdote about Jason, a precocious 4 year old... Jason lived in a bilingual home and his first language was spanish... Jason also frequently would put his shoes on wrong when getting up from his nap... This particular day after nap time, three teachers in a row had told Jason to fix his shoes... Spanish being Jason's first language, he didn't always understand english idioms... So, when I was the third teacher, in as many minutes, to tell him, "Jason! Your shoes are on the wrong feet!", Jason looked at his feet, then looked at me, then looked at his feet...then looked at me....... After doing this a few times in quick succession, Jason, with a look of utter confusion on his face, said... "But Teacho, DEES are da ony feet I HAVE!"

Warning....

Leanna — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 07:50:08 GMT

When I am an old woman... I shall wear purple, with a red hat, which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves...and satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter. I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired, and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells...and run my stick along the public railings, and make up for the sobriety of my youth. I shall go out in my slippers in the rain... and pick flowers from other people's gardens, and learn to spit. I will wear terrible shirts and grow more fat, and eat three pounds of sausages at a go...or only bread and pickles for a week, and hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things on boxes. But now we must have clothes that keep us dry, and pay our rent and not swear in the street, and set a good example for the children. We will have friends to dinner and read the papers. But maybe I ought to practice a little now? So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised, when suddenly I am old and start wearing purple! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS POEM! But what I don't love, is "The Red Hat Society"... They have rules set up for their club that say you must be 50 to join and wear the "uniform" of a red hat and purple clothes... If you are younger than 50 and you want to join their "club" you must wear a pink hat and lavender clothes.... HELLO?!?! What gives them the right to judge when somebody is "mature"?!... My mother was a grandmother at 41! And I know many people who've lived a really full life by 35. Conversely, I've known some 50 year olds that haven't really LIVED at all yet! Maybe they should have some sort of "initiation" rite instead...Or , better yet, let's start our OWN club! What say girls?!

Half Way Through ....

Leanna — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 02:35:15 GMT

Ok, so the harriedness of Christmas is over, but now we have New Years and Ruth's Birthday to get done.... I have such a love hate relationship with this time of year.... I love the warmth and generosity of the Christmas Season and all the light displays, and Christmas Carols etc... But I hate the exhaustion that accompanies all the assorted things added on! Between Charles' birthday on the 5th of December, the fact that his elderly mother, and elderly aunt send money for us to buy christmas presents from them, to the kids and us, along with the Christmas presents from us and from Santa..... Then New Years, and Ruth's birthday on January 4th... I always look for the end of January like the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel! So now we only have New Years and Ruth's Birthday to get through! I really wish that society didn't put the expectation for all the holidays, and other celebrations, so firmly on the shoulders of the women...

T-day

Leanna — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 10:14:20 GMT

Halloween is over and it was lots of fun! But Thanksgiving is coming and I hate this time of year. Since I am estranged from my family and Chas' family live in California, for the last 4 or 5 years it's been mostly just us for the holiday... I've tried to make it fun and we've done things like have a Thanksgiving picnic on the living room floor, and fix just our favorite foods (instead of "traditional" dinner). That year we had steak and shrimp... We've also started to go see a holiday movie on Thanksgiving the last few years... Though it's beginning to wear a little thin... Thanksgiving is less about the food and more about who you spend it with... Though I don't doubt that my friends love me, most of them already have plans for Thanksgiving... If you live nearby and would like to spend the holiday together, message me and we'll plan something... Or at least commiserate with me, so I don't feel ignored LOL...

Wheeeeeeeee it's Halloween!

Leanna — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 23:31:23 GMT

I love Halloween... Costumes are soo much fun.... We are dressed as two devils (Me and Ruth) an angel (Hannah) and a monk(Chas)... Must get ready to go trick or treating now!!! Trick or Treating was fun! But, since sewing the monk costume got put off to the last minute, it went rather awry... So with Chas' long brown hair and beard, people thought he was Jesus... LOL! Oh well *Shrug*... How was everyone else's Halloween? What did you do?.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Ok, so I asked nicely what my friends did for Halloween... Did you all spend the evening in your abodes, with the lights out and with boring plans for the night?!?! C'mon, give over, what did Y'all do! : D Ok, so I

Since WhisperFae asked...

Leanna — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 07:50:38 GMT

Well, after reading my comments, that were apparently made but not posted by tribe, I thought I'd answer the questions about my Native American blood... First, I am not one type of native tribe but three... On my mom's side I'm Norwegian(hence the red hair), English, and German... On my dad's side, my paternal grandfather was full blooded Delaware, and my paternal grandmother was Cheyenne, Cherokee and Creole French... (Yep, there's a pinch of "black" in that "so white you can read by me" exterior LOL)... My Grandmother's uncle was a Cheyenne Medicine Man... That said...My parents divorced when I was two, and I didn't meet my dad till I was 20... Along with that, when my dad was a young man back in the late 40's early 50's his family decided that his life path would be smoother if they destroyed the family records connecting them all to native blood... So any tenuous connections that might have once been there were severed before I was born... I have made occasional query's over the years to find out what I might do to learn more about my native heritage... But since most tribes have very little financial resources, anyone seeking information is looked on with suspicion as a potential rival for tribal monies... In short, given my appearance (very white), and the way native peoples have been treated by the american people overall since America was settled by europeans, most natives I have spoken to in my quest to find out more about my heritage have been understandably wary and laconic in return to my questions... I would love to learn more about my heritage, it just hasn't worked out yet...

Hmmmmmmmmmmm....

Leanna — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 08:08:35 GMT

Well I was tagged and blogged ten random things about me... But I have no comments.... Does that mean nobody has read my blog entry... Or maybe it means my ten things aren't exciting enough to comment on... Gosh, I hope it just means that everybody is busy lately! LOL

I've been tagged...

Leanna — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:14:42 GMT

Well I've been tagged by Emilie, and I'm supposed to post ten random things about myself... I've never blogged before... So please excuse the amataurish content/posts... Oh, and I'm not sure how often I will post anything else, but here goes.. Ten random things about me... 1) I love mystery stories, I got hooked on them reading Nancy Drew as a kid... 2) I was married at a renaissance faire... 3) I love to sing, and I'm fair to really good at it... 4) I have two daughters. Both are a lot like me, and nothing like each other... 5) I love to costume, but hate to sew! I really enjoy the designing and creating part of it. And though I am an expert seamstress, I think that sitting at a sewing machine running fabric under a needle is one of the most tedious things a person could do... For that reason I often buy clothing at thrift shops that will meet my needs for costuming, and change them as needed... I have a friend who has dubbed this activity "Costuming like 'MacGyver' ".... LOL 6) When my kids are "older", I'd like to go back to college and get a Master of Fine Arts degree... 7) I hate "reality shows" like "Survivor" and "Big Brother", because they aren't real... They are particular parts of filming edited together to tell the story that the producers want to tell... 8) I am almost half Native American... 9) I am left handed... 10) I love a warm fire, a cup of hot cocoa, and a good friend to play games and have good conversation with....