AuburnChick's Adventures

Ok, so my title is lame.  I’ll admit it.  I would chalk it up to Mommy Brain, but Chicky just turned 20, and Rooster graduated early, so I’m kind-of sort-of done parenting (not that we ever completely finish).  No, I’ll blame the fact that I’m treading water to stay afloat in this, month one into the second half of my second year of teaching.

Whew, what a mouthful!

Ok, so here’s the deal.  Joyce, oh wonderful Joyce, posts the questions on her blog.  You copy and answer on your own blog.  Then, you link back up on hers.  Go back and visit other bloggers who’ve linked up, and VOILA…new friends!

Now, on to my own answers.

1.  The NFL playoffs were held this past weekend and this year’s Superbowl lineup will feature The New York Giants versus The New England Patriots. How do you define ‘patriot’?

Isn’t a patriot a Mel Gibson lookalike running with a flag across a field, inspiring others not to give up, while killing the British dude who killed his son?

Oh.  Wait.  That’s the movie.

Ok…seriously, a patriot, in my humble opinion, is someone who stands up for freedom in the face of massive opposition.  A patriot is someone willing to give up his or her life so that others can enjoy the freedoms that man should naturally be given.

2.  What’s something in your life right now that feels like a ‘giant‘?

When I think of a giant, I tend to think the Goliath kind…as in seemingly insurmountable.  Right now, I’m looking at the seemingly long road that I’m on as I begin my reading certification classes.  That is my giant right now, but with God’s help, I will meet it head on and get through the challenges I’ll face on the journey.

3.  What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think back to being 18?

Uncertainty is what comes to mind.  I knew that things were about to change in my life, and even back then, I did not adjust to change well.  I like my routines, and graduating from high school threw a huge wrench into my carefully managed life.

4.  Coconut-mashed potatoes-vanilla ice cream-mayonnaise…which white food would be the hardest to give up?

I despise mayo (have you ever heard the joke about martian pimple juice?), I can’t have ice cream or traditional mashed potatoes, and I really don’t eat coconut (though I do like the taste), so this is a no-brainer for me.

5.  Describe an incident or a day you remember as the coldest you’ve ever experienced?

As a soccer mom, I’ve endured many, many, many cold days.  I’m going to describe two because I cannot decide which was worse.  The first was a game Chicky played somewhere in Georgia.  The morning was C-O-L-D, and back then, I did not have Mr. Heater.  I wrapped up in so many blankets that you could not even see my face.  Unfortunately, a fellow soccer dad took my picture.  I’m sure he has it somewhere.

The second day I can recall was another soccer event, and if I’m not mistaken, we were playing somewhere in Georgia.  Come to think of it, what is up with Georgia?  It’s a SOUTHERN state, which should mean there’s heat!  Anyhoo, Chicky’s team had to play at o’dark thirty in the morning, and it was cold and rainy.  It was a miserable day, but that wasn’t the coldest part.  Chicky’s team played a second game, and it was still raining.  Still, not the coldest of the day.  Her team played a third game that day…completely wrong, if you ask me, for kids to be playing three games in one day in a tournament, but that’s just my opinion.  Well, it was the championship game, and it was late in the day…dark, in fact, and…you guessed it…it was raining again.  The wind was blowing, which made the temperature drop to probably 20-something degrees.  I honestly do not know how those girls played that game.  They could barely move because they were frozen stiff.

It was the most miserable I’ve ever been at a game.

The only good thing about the game is that we won, beating the Tennessee state champions.

6.  You’re hosting a brunch…what’s your favorite dish to prepare and serve?

HA, HA, HA!!!  I don’t host ANYTHING, so I really cannot even begin to answer this question!  In fact, have I ever eaten brunch?  I’m not sure that I have.  In all honesty, I’m not much of a party girl, and I’ve never had a desire to host a brunch, so I have no clue what I’d serve.  I’m pretty lame, eh?

7.  How do you combat negative thinking?

I allow myself to indulge in it for a few minutes, then I do a reality check.  I always remind myself that there’s someone out there with lots worse problems than me and, besides that, God is on my side, so how can I complain about anything?

8.  My Random Thought

A couple of weeks ago, I got a wild hair and decided to buy a new printer.  What prompted this decision?  Well, maybe the fact that the documentation I need to print for my first reading certification class is over 100 pages long, and I really wanted to duplex the stuff without manually turning the pages over.  Plus, I wanted a scanner that actually worked with my MacBook Pro.  So, I splurged on this, which was actually on sale for $50 off at Best Buy…

It’s an HP Photosmart 7510, and it looks lovely on my desk.  I especially like the touch screen that connects wirelessly to the internet and other computers…

There was a slight problem, though.

My MacBook wasn’t playing nice with the duplexer.

Oy.  I tried and tried to get Word to print two-sided, but it wouldn’t.  I’m a techie by trade, and I tried every search phrase possible and read every cotton-pickin thing I could find.  Nothing worked.

Finally, I decided to upgrade my OS from 10.5.8 to Snow Leopard.

I ordered the DVD through the Apple site (this is not a commercial, by the way), and I installed it last night.  Then, I ran the updates to get it to 10.6.8.

Something magical happened.

My printer driver got fixed, and I can now print two-sided!!!!!!

I love it when God allows me to fix the computer problems in my home (I attribute this to Him because my brain is so fried lately that I could not possibly do it on my own).

One other neat thing I successfully accomplished was printing an email wirelessly from my phone to my printer!  Woo Hoo!

If you read my blog yesterday, you’ll know that my week had a rough start.  My classes gave me a ROUGH time on Monday.  Things were so much better on Tuesday, I’m happy to report.  It turns out that writing kids up sets an example for other students.  Mrs. AuburnChick’s one tough cookie.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: HP Photosmart 7510, Wednesday Hodgepodge |