The Blind Side

I believe that I might be the very last person in the world to see this movie. I tried to be one of the first. Leigh Anne Tuohy, one of the main characters, is a Kappa Delta which is AbFabGeek's very own sorority. Because if that connection I had received an email announcement before the opening. I tried to arrange to see the movie with a few of my AbFab Sorority sisters but our schedules never did line up.

Anyway Mr. Geek wanted to see the movie too - he had heard it was not just a chick flick. Then our church then started a sermon series based on the movie. Sometimes waiting until you have time to do something just doesn't happen. So we just said - tonight- we are going to see it tonight. Never mind that tonight was a Sunday evening - that is a school night.

Then we made another big decision - We decided to see the movie as a family (minus College Geek - he was, you know, at college). This was a big deal. Mostly we only see movies like The Squeakquel- very much kids movies and now we were planning on taking the little geek to a grown up movie (not to be confused with adult movie --ick).

And the response from the little Geeks was .... "Why do we have to go? Can't we just stay home? Can't we go see a different movie?" You know-- enthusiastic.

But we held firm. "You will like this movie", we told them.

"No I won't I saw the preview. I HATE those kind of movies. I think football is stupid."

So we headed to the movies. (I even bribed them each with a dollar if they would just not disturb me.) The little geeks sat in the very first row and Mr. Geek and I sat in the very last row. (Family bonding at its best.)

As you all know by now the movie is wonderful. It has gotten great reviews and several awards so I won't bore you with my review.

What I do want to share was the response of the little geeks.

They were blown away by the movie. During the credits they walked back to where Mr. Geek and I were sitting and began to talk about the movie. The conversation continued as each of them laid down in their bed that night through breakfast the next morning.

Here are their impression: The Middle Geek was ready to search for a homeless person for us to adopt.

Littlest Geek: When he said that he had never had a bed before I wanted to cry.

Not enough has been made about Leigh Anne's husband Sean Tuohy role in Micheal Ohrer's story. The emphasis is on Leigh Anne and her take charge ways. In the following interview, I found out that Sean Tuohy was already buying Micheal his lunch everyday.

But I think Sean has an even more pivotal role in the story. I love the way he looks at Leigh Anne from the car when she is about to ask Micheal to stay over night. I love the way he reassures her when later she is wondering if she did the right thing. I love how you know that none of this story would have been possible if the family did not work together as a team.




Oh yeah and you know what else? I love how Sean Tuohy (and even Tim McGraw) remind me of Mr. Geek and his unwavering support when I make announcements like : I am going to Haiti. I am going back to grad school. I think we should adopt. Mr. Geek, we have a new son . I never have to guess, I know Mr. Geek is in it with me the whole way.

Doppleganger

Those of you on FaceBook know that last week was Doppleganger Week. You were supposed to find a picture of a famous person that people say that you look like. Then you were to post that picture as your profile picture.

Some of my friends resemble celebrities so much that I had to do a double take on their profile picture. So I wanted to play along. The trouble is that - I have never been told that I look like a famous person. ever. People come up to me all the time asking if I am their neighbor's cousin, cousin's neighbor or child's prinicipal (I actually have gotten that one more than once.) However never has anyone ever said, "You know when you look that direction, when the light is just right, and I squint my eyes - You look exactly like Big Famous Celebrity.

But I did let that keep me from the fun.

One someone had said that Leelee Sobieski in Never Been Kissed looked like me. What do you think?





We are twins separated at birth, right?



SO ANYWAY, while I was looking at images from Never Been Kissed, I saw my perfect doppelganger.....






Josie Grossie!!!








But my nieces didn't seem all the resemblance.

So back to google images. There is one celebrity that I have been told I resemble - the way I speak anyway (oh and the way I dance )




But I was informed -- Doppelganger? No way!










After doppelgange week was over, I came up with the PERFECT match. (Isn't that always the way.)

Oh yeah, from my favorite movie -- Mamma Mia!





As proof during the movie when the following scene played, my friends on either side of me turned and said, "That is so you."

It's a complement right?

I have been distracted

On last Tuesday, January 12 at 5:14 pm a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck southern Haiti near Port au Prince.

I am assuming anyone reading this already knows this.

Since my trip to Haiti last March, I have kept in touch with some of the people I met on the internet. People like Tara and Troy Livesay . I began reading Troy's almost real time Twitter on Tuesday evening and was horrified by the devastation.

My work in Haiti was with Meds and Foods for Kids (MFK) which is in the northern part of the country in Cap Hatien. I emailed the people there as soon as possible and they had only felt a few rumblings. MKF makes Medika Mamba, an enriched peanut butter, for severely malnourished kids. The number of malnourished kids in Haiti on a good day with no extra tragedy is staggering. About one child out of every four in Haiti under the age of five is malnourished. Think of the kids in your kids kindergarten and picture one fourth of them starving.

The effect of the earthquake on MFK and on the health of children will not be completely know for some time. Look here for the recent news reports from MKF.

Before this tragedy, I was planning on traveling to Haiti over spring break to continue the work that we started last year with Engineers Without Borders. We are still planning this trip but we don't know all that will change between then and now.

One more writing prompt

None of MamaKat's writing prompts prompted me this week so I dove into her archives to grab a different one. This one sounded interesting.

Write about a time you hid from someone, or a time you disguised who you really were.

Since I already have not followed the directions, I will continue to feel free to decide the subject of my story.

When I was growing up, I was very much a pleaser. I wanted teachers to like me and I did not want to get into trouble. I lived my life very much in terror of getting something on my PERMANENT RECORD that would keep me from getting into college and ruin my life. I also had a pretty strong moral code (for a kid) and just thought that everyone should do the right thing --just because.

Why do I tell you this? Well a couple of times while I was growing up I tried on a different persona. In other words, I pretended to be someone I was not, kind of like a disguise. (See it fits the prompt, right?)

The first one was a time when I was walking around with a girl from school throughout the neighborhood. I don't really remember who the girl was except I remember I did not usually hang out with her. Walking around our neighborhood was very common. I grew up in the suburbs where most mothers kicked their kids out to play each day.

This day the girl suggested, "Let's just sit on the corner." That sounds like an innocent suggestion, but my mother had always said, "Do not hang out on the corner." She never gave any explanation why I was not supposed to hang out on the corner, but I knew the rule, don't do it. Hmmm, don't do it? Why not? We weren't hurting anyone that I could tell and maybe if I hung out I could find out what the big deal was. Oh and the girl that I was with? She said she did it all the time.

So we sat on the corner right by the stop light. It was at one of the busier intersections in my neighborhood and there were lots of cars and people to watch. Sure enough we received several disapproving looks from other mothers driving by.

The second time, I was with my cousin and one her friends at Sun 'n Fun. Sun 'n Fun was a man made pond/ lake with a sand beach (I grew up in St. Louis, smack in the middle of the US, far, far away from an ocean). We would go to Sun 'n Fun almost once a week during the summer.

This time, my cousin had a friend with her. We went to the playground to play for a bit and the friend said. "Have you guys ever played, like pretend?" We looked at her, sure we had played pretend, but the look on her face said this was not about castles and army men. She said, "When someone comes up to play on the playground, you tell them that your parents own it and that they are not allowed to play."

Okay, that just sounded stupid to me, but in a moment that I am not particularly proud of, I just stood there and said nothing. Soon a couple of younger kids came up to play and the girl said, "You can't play here. Our parents own all of Sun 'n Fun and they said that no one is allowed to play on the monkey bars but us." The kids put up some mild protests but they were clearly out matched by three older kids and they ran off...... to get their mothers.

Their mothers came up to the playground (see I knew this was a stupid idea) and said, "What's this about my kids not allowed on the monkey bars?" I remember looking at my feet and the other girl mumbled something. The mother set us straight, "Everyone is allowed to play on the playground!"... and of course the kids played on the playground. We left soon after.

So these were my experience at being a "bad" kid. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

Engineers save more lives than doctors!

If you ask many girls what they want to do when they grow up, they will answer, "I want to be a doctor, because I want to help people."

Here is one woman one who is working hard to expand the career choices before girls and young women. Engineering (if done right) can help bring clean drinking water, life saving medical equipment and many other things that impact lives every day.

A favorite Song from 7th Grade

Verse by verse, dissect a favorite song you had in 7th grade.

I had trouble narrowing this one down. I remember so many songs that I played over and over and over and over..... I am going to try to pick one from my first two albums (When I entered Junior High, I became too mature to buy 45's) - John Denver Greatest Hits and Elton John Greatest Hits.

When I looked through the list of songs online the one that resonated with my 12 year old heart was Follow Me by John Denver. Oh the angst that I went through wondering if I would ever meet my soul mate, my one true love, my all-that. sigh

Does any one out there remember it?



I can't decide if it is wildly romantic or just a bit creepy.

It's by far the hardest thing I've ever done

To be so in love with you and so alone


(Do you hear that - He loves ME!!)

{Refrain}
Follow me where I go, what I do and who I know

Make it part of you to be a part of me

Follow me up and down, all the way and all around

Take my hand and say you'll follow me


(If you love me so much, why don't you follow me?)


It's long been on my mind, you know it's been a long, long time

I'll try to find the way that I can make you understand

The way I feel about you and just how much I need you

To be there where I can talk to you when there's no one else around


(Now you are talking, remember you NEED ME!!)

{Refrain}


You see, I'd like to share my life with you and show you things I've seen

Places that I'm going to, places where I've been

To have you there beside me and never be alone

And all the time that you're with me, we will be at home


(Yes, yes, YES, let's travel and see the world together.)

{As refrain}

Follow me where I go, what I do and who I know

Make it part of you to be a part of me

Follow me up and down, all the way

Take my hand and I will follow you


(Do you see why I love this song? He will follow me, just as it should be.)

An ER Visit

This week's writing prompt from MamaKat is:

An ER Visit...


I teach safety for a living and I like to use real life examples as illustrations what to do and even better-- what not to do. To be fair I tell a few stories about myself.

One summer night Mr. Geek and I were cooking a great dinner -- Steaks on the grill, asparagus with cheese sauce. yum. I was multitasking, checking the steaks out on the patio and making the cheese sauce in the kitchen. I started melting the butter in a pan, added some flour and was ready to slowly add milk. When I open the refrigerator, the milk carton was empty. I grabbed the new gallon of milk and went to untwist the cap, but the stupid safety ring wouldn't give.

This was where I usually go get a fork and pry off the plastic ring, but I looked down and there was a butter knife right there on the counter. How perfect, I thought, I will use the knife to pry off the plastic ring. It will work just like a fork and I will have one less utensil to clean. Who was I fooling, I was not worried about cleaning up I was more thinking about convenience - I was hungry and I was in a hurry. I did not want the steaks or sauce to burn and I WAS HUNGRY. (Did I mention that?)

I took the knife with my right hand and put it into the plastic ring in order to to then pry it off when with out warning, the plastic ring broke. The momentum that I had carried the knife down to where my left hand was holding the gallon of milk. The knife cut into my left pointer finger (Can you picture this?) It was then that I found out that you can indeed cut yourself with a butter knife.


I saw blood. I turned off the stove. I grabbed several papertowels and put pressure on the cut. I held the finger above my heart. Then I thought, I think I should sit down.

Along came Mr. Geek. concern about .... the burning steaks. He was hungry too.

"What happened?"

"I cut myself"

"Well get a band aid."

(Can you feel the concern?)

"I think I might need stitches"

At this point, Mr. Geek finally actually looked at me. He stopped rushing around and said, "Let me see it."

Yes, it was going to need stitches. We were able to call a neighbor girl over to watch the kids (the little geeks were still toddlers) and we went to the ER.

We finally ate our steaks at 10:00 that night.

A Memorable Thanksgiving

This week's writing prompt from MamaKat is:

A Thanksgiving to be remembered...

(inspired via Twitter by @knitmyrhino from Crafting With Rhinos)

I can not remember any on particular Thanksgiving but for some reason there is one Thanksgiving scene that is vivid in my memory. Why with all of the memories in my head this one scene stick out? Was it tragic? Was it touching? Wait for it....

First I have to set the scene.

We always had Thanksgiving dinner at my Grandma's house. My Grandma's house was not very big, maybe 900 square foot with a galley kitchen. My Grandfather at some point had added an extra room of the kitchen that we called the Breezeway (yes with a capital B). This was before such inconveniences as Building Codes and Regulations.

The grownup all sat in the Dining Room (also with a capitol D). The point at which you moved from the kid's table in the Breezeway to the grownup table in the Dining room was a decision loaded with controversy. You see it depended on much more than just your age. It really depended more on how much room there was at the adult table. After counting heads and comparing that number to the amount of room at the table, my Grandma then looked for a natural break in age. For example, my two older sisters are 18 months apart, so they would always be seated together. This had some logic behind it but as you can expect it was met with some arguments like - How come Linda got to sit at the grownup table at 14 and I had to wait until I was 16?

Me? I was always content to sit at the kids table. I fell in the middle of a pack of cousins, all two years apart. My cousin Lisa was two years younger than me and my playmate for most of my life. Her brother Mark was two years older and lots of fun when he wasn't teasing me until I cried. Then there was my brother, whom at this point in my life, I tolerated.

The adults were talking and laughing and completely oblivious to anything that was going on just several feet away in the Breezeway. Left to ourselves we came up with our own entertainment.

And the one memory I hold after all these years? Are you ready for it? My cousins and I spent time learning to swallow peas and corn whole. And the stakes got higher eat round. Could you swallow one peas and two kernels of corn? For the record, I was not the best at it because I had a pretty big fear of choking. If I remember correctly (and I doubt very much that I do) the boys ruled this challenge and my cousin Lisa and I claimed moral superiority such like - "What kind of idiot would want to swallow their food without chewing it?"

What do you remember about Thanksgiving?

10 Random Things

This was in my Draft box. I am not sure where I borrowed it from.

1. Your favorite beverage: Coffee, Coffee, Coffee. When planning my trip to Haiti, I first packed coffee.



2. Your hometown:

3. Your favorite television show: The Amazing Race

Yes, that is the host Phil Keoghan with Mr. Geek.

4. Your occupation/you are in school for:

5. Your first car: The first car that I drove was my Dad's Chevy Monza.

The First car that I owned was a 1984 Plymouth Colt.


6. Your favorite dish: Any thing made on Top Chef. (Hey I can dream, can't I?)

7. Celebrity you've been told you resemble: Leelee Sobieski - but only when she has a geeky role like the one in Never Been Kissed.



8. Celebrity on your "to do" list: Chef Robert Irvine I was so happy that the Food Network hired him back for Dinner Impossible.

9. Your favorite childhood toy: Stuffed Animals. I owned lots and lots. Each one had a name, a birthday, and a personality. I had them all enrolled in school where I was the one-room schoolhouse teacher.

10. Any random picture

7 Quick Take Friday

I don't have the focus to write a complete blog posting on any one subject. So this is my opportunity to let everyone know what the Geeks have been up.

1. Soccer, Soccer, Soccer. Most of the games were rained out (field too soggy) in October so the weekends in November are packed. Also indoor soccer has started, oh my.


Here is the Middle Geek attempting a trick shot.



2. Lance - the Dog Geek. The little Geeks LOVE playing fetch and soccer with Lance. The do not mind feeding him and giving him water. The walking and cleaning up poop? Not so much.








3. Safety Training - I have been continuing my tour of Missouri in my quest to bring safety education to every county. Only 100 more to go.





4. I have spent too much time searching the web for the perfect obnoxious T-shirt for the College Geeks birthday present.

Please someone, put this on a coffee mug for me!





5. Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) This is an event for 7th and 8th grade girls to meet women with nontraditional careers (for women) and to be encouraged to stay in math and science. Every year my friends and I travel to our Alma mater and put on a workshop. Usually we bring the bridge kit and explain why engineers are the MOST important people in the world.

Unfortunately I missed it this year due to #3 reason. (sob)


6. Making Charcoal Briquettes from Peanut Shells - I am still involved with Engineers Without Borders. Several projects that we started in Haiti are ongoing.

We have successfully carbonized peanut shells. Look at that burning in the picture. We were able to FILL the chimney with shells and with one match the entire contents caught fire.

While that may not sound amazing at first, you have to know that peanut shells pack pretty densely and it is difficult to get enough air for the fire to burn without being smothered. We modified a Weber Chimney Charcoal Starter (Somebody from Weber Grill contact me, we love your design.) Next step is to build a larger model.
















7. I was so lucky to be able to fit in one more mission trip this year. Hugs to Mr. Geek who picks up the slack at the home front while I am away.

This mission trip was close to home (just one county over). The constant October rain drove us inside where we completely made over the Sanctuary of a small church. The average age of the members is over seventy and the church had not been painted since probably the 70's.

When we were done it looked like a beautiful country chapel that would be perfect for a wedding. We hope we were also able to bring some hope and joy to those worshiping there.

Our Newest Geek

A Miracle has occurred (according to the Little Geeks) and the Geek household has finally gotten a new dog. Part of the credit or blame has to go to Michelle . Go to her blog and read about Service Dogs, watch the Cowboy and Wills video , and try not to run to your local animal shelter.

I am proud to present the newest member - Lance. (No geek nickname yet, suggestions?)


He is nine months old and an Australian Cattle Dog. We adopted him from the local Humane Society so he already had a name.

The Littlest Geek loved his name because he thinks he is named after a character in Pokemon.

Mr. Geek loves his name because he thinks he is named after a different Lance.

Remembering Summer

The Next Post

I am trying to reestablish my blogging habit (it is all about me not you, I am so sorry) so I searched for some ideas for Tuesday. I came across Ruby Tuesday .
The rules are simple - Post a picture with red in it.

I live in St. Louis and Red can only mean one thing this time of year----

Go Cardinals!!!

Here are some pictures of the Middle Geek at Busch Stadium with his school band playing God Bless America!!Are you having trouble finding him? Here, I will zoom in. Hint: He is the one in a red shirt.

Love and Welcome Back

My friend Elizabeth gave me an award last week. She said she hoped it would give me a swift kick in the tush and get me back online again. hehehe How did she guess that my Fall resolution (New Years resolutions are so last year) was to get back into the habit of blogging. I am going to need some help, for some reason I have become the wold's worst editor and everything I write is deemed , "Not Good Enough!" which is weird because I don't even know any editors.

Anyway I am going to stop procrastinating and attempting to craft the perfect sentence (as if) and continue on with the directions. Here are the rules:
1. Thank the person who gave this to you! (check)

2. Copy the logo and place it in your blog! (see below)

3. Link the person who nominated you! (check, woohoo this is easy)

4. Name 7 things about yourself that no one would really know. (Seriously?)

5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers. (Where are you?)

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate. (uhhhh)

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them! (Can I do this by thinking about it really intently?)

Wow, seven things. What is it with bloggin and list, three thinks I eat for breakfast, twenty five things I do after lunch.....well here are my seven things, although probably you already know them (or you didn't care to know them in the first place):

1. I used to work as a waitress at Denny's. I worked all shifts including Graveyard (11 pm - 7 am) so I can tell you with certainty that the weirdos come out between 3 am and 5 am, excessive drinking does not make you more attractive and men should not wear corsets and fish net stockings to a restaurant even if they have just left the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

2. I love jackets, they are the one article of clothing that I will splurge on. I own two jackets that were my Dad's that I still wear occasionally.

3. I love coffee and spend way too much time thinking about it. When I began to pack for Haiti, my first thought was caffeine. I packed ground coffee, instant coffee, Carnation International coffee, chocolate covered coffee beans and caffeinated Jelly Bellies. Then I was able to relax and decide what clothes to pack. (BTW they do have coffee in Haiti, good coffee, who knew?)

4. I hate to eat breakfast. I ate breakfast everyday of my life until I turned 40.
I finally decided, "I don't enjoy eating breakfast so I am NOT going to." It was very empowering. It still drives my mom crazy. I don't miss it at all.

5. I love Broadway musicals, the old and new ones. Do you want to hear the soundtrack to Oklahoma or Fiddler on the Roof, complete with all the back ground parts? Just say the word and I will be there.

6. I almost was paddled in second grade (yes they still hit kids back then) for not finishing my handwriting. My handwriting sill sucks.

7. I never actually tag people in these awards because I am afraid that they will be like, who does she think she is tagging me, she is just a little blog and I have subscribers in the triple digits, and then I flash back to junior high and ... I do not need this pressure. However I LOVE getting tagged, because it makes me feel like one of the cool kids.

There. I am going to post this quick before that editor inside of me wakes up and deletes it. (She is just now getting her second cup of coffee, shhhh)

Mexico - The Trip Home

I can't believe I haven't finished blogging about this trip. I bet anymore who is still visiting here is bored stiff. Well let me wrap this up.

We spent one day just relaxing on the beach. I love the beach!! (I often state that God put me smack dab in the Midwest, because if I was too close to the beach I would just sit there all day.... staring at the waves..... listening to the surf....feeling the warm sand....well, you get the picture.)

The drive home was just as long - imagine that. Imagine our delight (okay it was my delight, but everyone was delighted that I was delighted) when one on the Rest Areas that we pulled into for lunch was named -- Safety Rest Area!!




Yes I did have to take a picture.














Spending two days in a van makes exercise sound like fun!













To sum up, I am very glad that I went on this trip. I met some very interesting people. I also was able to challenge myself physically and was proud of my ability to keep going. I cannot wait until I can get back into the field. I am already ready for another trip!!