Sunthing Special

1. A friend’s 15-year-old daughter left last Friday for a 10-month foreign exchange program to New Zealand. Rules prohibit her mom from visiting her, and it’s questionable how much this teenager will really communicate from Down Under. I saw the daughter about 10 minutes before she left for the airport, and she looked so young, nervous and scared. That’s a brave girl, and a trusting mom. My youngest daughter would be the type to do a program like this, and I cringe at the thought of it. College, I guess. High school? Not my baby!
2. With all this awful heat, at least I haven’t heard anyone ask, “Hot enough for you?”
3. Actually, 2-1/2. My blog will be used for my general opinions on things. To not be repetitive, info on my art, shows, and activities in NE Ohio is found on my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunthing-Special/300562123302515. Remember, you don’t have to be “on” Facebook to look at my “Sunthing Special” page.

1) Just saw the news that Katie Holmes filed for divorce from creepy Tom Cruise. Finally.
2) Sad to see that Nora Ephron died the other day. I’ve read two of her books and she was such a gifted writer and led such an interesting life, like Linda Ellerbee, another favorite of mine.
3) The other day on msn.com they posted pictures of celebrities who look like each other, like Zooey Deschanel and Katy Perry. I add to the list some others I confuse like Heidi Fleiss/Sheryl Crow/Alanis Morisette and Robert DeNiro/Al Pacino.

I’m not officially back, but just felt like sharing some recent thoughts (in no particular order):
1) SO glad Jerry Sandusky was found guilty. It’s always so refreshing when justice is served, though I’m sure it’s a small consolation to all his victims. But at least he was not acquitted.
2) SO happy LeBron James got his NBA championship and was even voted the MVP. Whatever team he plays for, he will always be an Akron boy.
3) I like reading biographies. And since I have so much extra time now since I’m not blogging (kidding — sort of), I just started Tina Fey’s “Bossypants”. So far it’s good, but it is very weird because I’ve never ever read a biography of a woman who’s younger than I am. I always feel like people who have accomplished so much should be older than I am. I feel envy, which I don’t like to feel. The only other biography I’ve read of someone younger than I am is Lance Armstrong and his bouts with cancer, but with him, too, I feel like he’s way older than I am because of all he’s been through. But I do not feel envy for him.
4) I love the public library system and totally take advantage of it. However, I don’t like when you return something and the library shows that you still have it. Then you have to go through the whole process of having them try to find it on their shelves, etc. With all the items we borrow, it probably only happens .4 percent of the time, but every time it does I get irritated.
5) I was trying to find a new Web site to get a better forecast than weather.com, and went to accuweather.com. Then I saw they have a 25-day forecast. Since it doesn’t seem to be possible to even get a four-hour forecast correct much of the time, the thought of someone(s) spending time trying to publish a 25-day forecast just seems, so, well, pointless.
There, don’t we all feel better now that we got all that out?

I will not be writing any new blogs for an indefinite period of time.

are symbolized by a smiley face kind of thing. Since some text messages can be of the downright unsmiley kind, like, say, a breakup text, isn’t the ever-present smiley face a bit misleading?

When I was growing up, there was a little ice cream stand probably about a 15-20 minute walk away. One or two times a summer we’d walk there with my parents. It was one of those super-special times you remember. My BFF has a Honey Hut a couple blocks away and has probably been taking her kids there the last 15 years (last summer the kids and I got to share in her tradition). We have a Rita’s about a mile away and tonight my husband and I walked with our son and youngest daughter there. My son rode his scooter and had races with my husband, who ran, while my daughter held my hand and talked about this and that. Like how she was going to figure out a way to keep me from dying by making sure I don’t drink too much coffee and Coke. Anyhow, I know so many other people who are able to do this too, whether it be Handel’s or Dairy Queen or a mom-and-pop place, and I think it’s wonderful. It’s such a simple, yet special, time.

An Apple officer was chosen as CEO of JCPenney several months back and I really like the changes to the store. Instead of constant sales, everything is priced at three levels: everyday low price, monthly sale price and best price. The best prices can be awesome deals. I bought winter coats for my husband and I for $20 each (they were originally $120 and $150). The advertising and signage is clearer and simpler. It’s like buying a car from a place that has the lowest price listed on the windshield as opposed to the back-and-forth nonsense.

I don’t “roughhouse” (wrestle, etc.) with the kids. But my husband plays like this with them a lot, especially my son, and the kids love it. It’s not my thing and frankly, I never quite understood the point. Then last year I heard about some research that showed how important roughhousing can be to the development of children between two and five. (My kids are older than that now, but I think these lessons are still applicable.) The article says, “The researchers believe that the most important aspect of this play is that it gives children a sense of achievement when they ‘defeat’ a more powerful adult, building their self-confidence and concentration. However, fathers who resist their children, can also teach them the life lesson that, in life, you don’t always win. The act of a stronger adult holding back that strength also helps to build trust between father and child.” It makes sense. So now when I hear the kids squealing with delight in the other room, I can feel good knowing that this way of bonding is a good thing. Here’s the full article: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/dads-roughhousing-children-crucial-early-development/story?id=13868801