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Saturday, August 29, 2009

Sweet Southern Comfort Part 2: Waffle House








What is this mysterious plateful of... stuff? Let me introduce you to the glory of the Waffle House chili cheese omlette, rivaled in satisfaction only by its close relation, the ginormous hashbrown that one can order in various states of culinary splendor. In this restaurant the size of a shoebox, you can order any kind of food you want 24/7. And even though you might die of a heart attack or explosive diahrrea on the way home due to the thousands of grams of animal fat you just consumed, you will die happy from the great service and hot coffee you just had only moments before.

We had the late night munchies after a day of airports, fellow passengers who reeked of stale smoke, and hugs and laughs for hours with long-lost comrades. We needed more than sustenance. We needed good cookin', the kind that calls for a stick of butter per serving or life-threatening quantities of gravy. There in front of us, like an oasis in the desert, was the Waffle House.

So much for Weight Watchers, sensible portion sizes, and spinach salads. I'm here in Hotlanta! Gimme some Waffle House! I've got pepto and the gym at home.

-- Mobilelly Yours, GGG

Friday, August 28, 2009

Sweet Southern Comfort Part I





I haven't even boarded the plane, and already my fellow passengers think I'm nuts. One man, sitting at a forty-five degree angle on a waiting area bench with his legs sprawled out all over the aisle, commented loudly to his giggly lady friend, "Now who wants to take a picture of the door in the airport?". Satisfied with his brief foray into stand-up comedy, he unwittingly proceeded to do his best Santa Claus impression, chuckling so smugly that his bowl full of jelly shook in tidal waves.

Who takes pictures of doors in airports??? I'll tell you who. G.G.G.

Off to Atlanta now...

-- Mobilelly Yours, GGG

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Army Wife Puts The Smack Down On A Purse Snatcher

Just another reason why you don't mess with a woman who is surrounded by her children constantly and hasn't had sex in almost a year! This local woman is a tribute to military wives doing what they have to do to keep the household running while the guys are out there in a modern wilderness. (Of course, this could have been a military husband keeping the homefires burning while his wife was deployed, but then again, wouldn't we all wonder why he was carrying a purse? I digress...)

I looked for a link to this story so you all could read it for yourselves, but the only online newspaper that carried this story is my local paper, to which I already subscribe. They wanted me to get an online subscription to access the story, which I find preposterous. So, I will boil it down for you, GGG style.

This lady -- we'll call her Wonder Woman for obvious reasons -- is a mother of three children and has a deployed military husband. She was at Wal-Mart the local mass discount retailer and was finishing up her grocery shopping after having dropped her youngest child off at watchcare on post. Being the proactive superhero that she is, she places her purse in the car before unloading her burgeoning cart. After having scanned her perimeter for enemy infiltrators, Wonder Woman dutifully returns her cart to the corrall, lest it wreak havoc on other minivans and SUVs Millenium Falcons or space shuttles and damage their force fields. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots Swiper moving stealthily to her own rocket, left vulnerable by an open bay door. Faster than she can slap on her sparkly tiara and matching wristbands, she recognizes that Swiper is moving in quickly, and she recalls that the watchcare nazi on post won't allow her to pick up her child without her military ID. With her umbrella in her hand (remarkably, since we haven't had any rain in, like, four months), she proceeds to run after him at warp speed, yelling out, "Swiper, no swiping! Swiper, no swiping! Swiper, NOOOO SWIPING!" This alerted fellow shoppers as to the crime in progress.

By the time our fearless heroine caught up to Swiper, he was getting into the stolen space cruiser he was rollin' in. They fought, they struggled, they talked politics and religion, after which time Swiper attempted to shoot off into orbit WITH WONDER WOMAN STILL HANGING ON TO THE SIDE MIRROR OF THE VEHICLE!!! Upon being interviewed, Wonder commented that she "wouldn't encourage that type of response"; however, I want to kiss this fearless woman for taking the fight to the man!

All's well that ends well. Swiper is behind bars, and Wonder Woman was, in fact, able to get her child out of watchcare. (At least, I assume so -- there was no follow-up story about some woman who had abandoned her child at the CDC (Child Development Center) and thus tainting the image of our fearless heroine.) And that, dear readers, is why you never want to mess with a military spouse -- she will hunt you down and exact justice!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Jackals Are Running The School

I promise I didn't wake up this morning intending to be one of "those" parents. I sing the praises of teachers and extol the merits of attending school every time I get the chance, having been a teacher in my life before becoming a parent and appreciating any shred of parental or public support. But when the school that your child attends is run by jackals in capris and skirts, it is very difficult to maintain your Stepford smile and keep from vomiting simultaneously.

I considered utilizing my new mobile blog app to blog on-the-spot and snap a picture of the lovely sign at the front door of the school today, but thank the good Lord I had sense not to do that. Heaven forbid someone from my local area would recognize the school and get the local yokels down at the beauty shop or the feed and seed all worked up over talkin' about their baby sister's cousin's girlfriends... you get the point. Either that, or a serial killer with a widow fetish would track me down via my proximity to said school and kill me in my sleep. So I just decided I would come home and rant sans photograph.

Let me say this: I do like this school. I chose to support public schools. I was intentional about buying a home in this town and in this neighborhood in large part due to which school my children would be attending. I make a point to avail myself to my child's teacher and the PTA so that people are aware that they have public support. When I was a teacher in Kansas, we received very little parent support. I believe this was in large part due to the demographics of the local neighborhood and the number of single parent families we had with said parent working more than one job. We did what we could with the resources we had and loved on those kids while we had them, knowing that they would be fed, kept warm and clean, and learn something while they were there. As a Christian mom, I am intentional about getting to know teachers and students and praying for them when I can. I'm not decked out in school colors complete with face paint and pom pons on the first day of school, but I let the teacher know that I would be happy to volunteer when called upon.

That being said...

I've been having some "issues" with Li'l G's school. This stream started trickling in the spring of last year but has turned into a steady flow already on the third day of school. After getting a not-so-parent-friendly vibe last year, I was encouraged to know that some of the administration would be changing for this academic year and had high hopes that the climate would be much more relaxed as a result. Insert insane, high pitched laughing here.

If I have to hear the words "district policy" one more time for the rest of the year coming from the Gatekeeper at the front door, you will likely see headlines in the local paper about a local woman being apprehended for insane ranting and raving at the neighborhood elementary school. (Incidentally, during the writing of this post, the administrator in charge of student affairs commented that our school had moved to implement certain policies prematurely and that he would be going out there to "visit" with the principal today.)

The straw that threatened to break the camel's back came this morning. Apparently, parents are not allowed to walk their children to class anymore on the third day of school. While this really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, it makes me question the priorities of the administrators and minions posted at doors to do their bidding. There are preschoolers in tears, apprehensive Kindergarteners, and even some very young first graders (Li'l G) who need to be shown that a big school of 700 other children and strange adults really is a safe place for them to be for eight hours, five days a week. If giving these children more than two days to acclimate to their surroundings helps them to be less anxious so that they can concentrate, then why is this a problem for "district policy"? According to the Gatekeeper, and I'm directly quoting here, "There are over 700 kids in this school. How are we supposed to keep track of who's tardy and who isn't if we have parents in the hallway?" I propose that, if we are more concerned about rounding up all the tardy children on the third day of school, many of whom are lost or crying to begin with, the "district policy" does not have its priorities in the right place.

What I understand is this: it is imperative that schools are safe for children. Schools and parents must have open, trusting relationships; otherwise, the efforts of teachers to instruct and support our children will be completely undermined by a strained relationship between the adults in the picture. We as parents are called to model behavior that we want our children to emulate, and respect for authority is one of those behaviors that we expect them to master and obey without question. Parents have to be able to show children how to obey rules, regardless of they agree with them or consider them valid. If school administrators expect parents to hold up their end of the bargain, the least they could do is not humiliate and condescend to them. If relationships are strained between parents and the school, there will always be friction for the entire time the kids are enrolled at the school, and trust me -- this attitude always trickles down to the classroom, which really is the bottom line.

Yes, I promise to behave and not vomit simultaneously upon walking upon school property. And I promise to instruct my children to follow rules regardless of their personal opinions on the matter. And yes, I promise to ask God to gently correct my attitude. But I also promise that I'm watching those jackals closely this year!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Have App, Will Blog




Mobile app bloggy test #2


-- Mobilelly Yours, GGG

Watch Me Blog In The Carpool Line!!

Mobile app test


-- Mobilelly Yours, GGG
Mobile test blog #1